The Misleading Fairy Tale
by Elenor GreanLeEf
Summary: It has been about sixteen years since Alice lost the love of her life. Now her fifteen year old daughter wants to know what happened. Alice is now forced into remembering a past that she would like to forget. Rated for T violence & language it may change.
1. The Story

"Mom? Mom!"

I look down at the teenage girl who is sitting at my feet. Her gray, blue eyes sparkle with mischievous longing. If that wasn't enough to tell me she was up to something, her guilty face did. I sigh, it was look I had seen far too often on her father, a look that told me to run for the hills. Unfortunately I do not have that option, so I nod for her to continue and brace myself for whatever has popped into that pretty, amber head of hers.

"Mom, what happened to dad?" she asks.

I choke, out of all the things I thought she would ask I never expected her to ask that, I never do. It takes me a while to respond because of my shock but fortunately (or unfortunately) I already know what to say.

"I told you, I will tell you when you are older."

"Mom I'm fifteen years old. Tell me!" My daughter whines

"No, maybe next year." I say adamantly. I hope that will be the end of it but my hopes are futile.

"That's what you said last year, and the year before that, and before that!" I try to interrupt but I do not get the chance. "Also since you do not have a birthday present for me, I want to know!"

I am trapped, and she knows it. I sigh deeply. I don't want to do this, but she does deserve to know.

"Okay, you win but it is a long story. I only know my side of it, plus a few pieces that he told me. I guess I start where it began for me. It was World War II. Everyone was fighting now that Perl Harbor had been bombed. I decided I want to be part of the war as well, but back then the only job a woman could do was nursing. We both know I'm not nurse material and besides all the hospitals weren't anywhere close to the battle. I was a thrill seeker back then and where was the action in helping a bunch of men back to health? No, I decided if I was going to serve in this war I would do it in the front lines as a solder."

"Wait, wait! Are you telling me that you became a solder? How?" My child's voice filled with aw and amazement.

I chuckle slightly. I could feel the thrill I had when I started my journey sixteen years ago. Maybe this retelling won't be so awful after all.

"Yes I became a solder. I got forms, had a doctor fill them out unknowingly, and then snuck into an army base. It was surprisingly easy actually." I pause and look at her. A tiny, wistful smile is on her face. I frown, apparently the brat inherited more from me then I thought. That is a trait I will not be encouraging though. "Although I wouldn't ever suggest you doing it. In fact if you ever even think about doing something that stupid I will make you regret it. Nothing the marines could ever do would compare to what I would do to you."

"But mom, you did it!" Her wistful smile is now gone, replaced by fierce determination.

"Yes I did it and I was a fool. If you be quiet and let me continue you will see why."

This silences her right away. It's ironic; a few minutes ago I had no desire to tell the story, and now the only thing that might keep her from doing something stupid is telling her it.

"Anyway where was I? Oh yes, me sneaking into a military base. They accepted me without question. Why would they question though? All my papers were in order and I just made it looked like I had been transferred from another base. I was quickly shown my barracks and got into army life.

* * *

**Sixteen Years Before**

It was thoroughly brutal. A normal day started around four in the morning and didn't end until one in the morning. The beds were the equivalent of sleeping on the floor, and the food wasn't fit for a dog, much less a human. The military drills were enough to bring any man to his knees. You can only imagine what it did to me.

I was the shortest in stature and in frame. This made me the outsider, the weak link. Almost everyone talked to me with snide. I was also famous for being a punching bag. I never fought back, there was no reason to. I took it all in stride but every person has there breaking point and I had finally had enough. I had decided that there was absolutely no glory in the army, and the first chance I got I was getting the hell out of there. So with this knowledge in my head I decided to go through the drills like normal but that day something new was added to the list. When we got to the shooting round I found out something great. They were going to be trying us out on stealth guns.

The day went by very quickly. Most of the other guys didn't stand a chance and probably had never shot a gun before coming here. There was one who stood out though. He had just come in the day before and bunked over top of me but I didn't know him. He was good, no correction not good, amazing. I had only seen a handful of people, who could shoot that good, and they usually couldn't do it all of the time, but the weird thing is he did it with his left arm.

By the time he was done it was obvious he had been accepted and I was nervous. I had thought that I would be at the top of the list but now I wasn't so sure. Then out of nowhere I decided I wasn't going to let that happen. I had been at the bottom ever since I got there and that wasn't going to happen again. I knew that I probably wouldn't beat him but I was going to damn well try.

Finally it was my turn. At the time I didn't notice anything except my targets but now I remember them, all of them jeering at me, all except him. They all thought it was a waste of time for me even to try out, even the CO did but I was about to prove them wrong. I took my first shot and they stopped laughing, the second shot they stopped talking, and the third shot shocked them all. By the time I was done I had finally earned what I had wanted all along, respect. I didn't beat the mystery sniper but that didn't matter. I had beaten everyone else and was now officially a marksman.

That night was pure bliss. I was able to relax without the worry that someone was going to bother me. I ate in peace, worked in peace and even managed to read a little in peace but all good things come to an end. I was about to stop reading when James, one of the brutes that always bothered me walked up to my bunk.

"Hay boys, get a look at this." He said, "Our big, bad sniper finally gets some free time and he's wasting it by reading a book."

I just ignored him, hopping my luck would hold through, but of course it didn't. He ripped it right out of my hands and began to look at it.

"What the hell is this? What solder would read something called _The King of Elfland's Daughter_?"

By now we had attracted a crowd and they were laughing. I was getting pissed.

"I do. Now give it back." I said.

They laughed even harder now but for some reason this did not bother me and I was extremely calm.

"You're a pansy, your one of those fucking homosexuals!"

"How do you get homosexual out of reading a book?" I was no longer calm. In a weird way he hit a little too close to home.

"It's not just the book. Your weak, your small, and you never fight us. You're a pansy."

He was connecting the dots but not surprisingly he had come to the wrong conclusion. I think if he ever found out how close he came that day to find out my secret he would have kittens.

"Look you unscrupulous prick those can all be explained. I like to read books because I have a college education. I'm weak because I never have done anything this strenuous before. I am small because I inherited my grandmother's genes, she was 4'5 and I don't fight you people because it is not worth it. Now get off of whatever train your riding because I am not homosexual."

"That may all be true but you never look at any magazines like the rest of us normal guys. Why else would that be, unless your gay?"

He was right, I didn't ever look at those filthy things. Why would any girl? All of the stuff I had said before had been true, so the answers came easily to me but now I was going to have to flat out lie. I had to find a suitable excuse and this caused me to pause. I knew that pause did me in.

"See I knew it, you are! I'm going to kill you, you freak!"

He grabbed me forcibly, and was about to hit me when he was pushed away. I looked and was surprised to see who came to my defense, it was that sniper.

"Look you prick, I don't look at that stuff either but that doesn't make me gay. I do it because God would see it as a sin. I'm sure that's the same reason why he doesn't either, right?"

"Yes." I reply automatically.

"Look, whatever your name is,"

"Daniel."

"Right, Daniel that little pansy isn't worth your trouble. The only reason why they have kept him here is because he's fodder. Now why don't you step out of the way so I can beat the hell out of the little shit."

"That's where you are wrong. He rivals me when it comes to a rifle. This country can't lose a shot like that over something this stupid. If you plan to fight him you are going to fight me."

That's when all hell broke loose. James didn't even give him a chance to blink before he punched him. Daniel wasn't startled though and he punched right back. Daniel was winning to when one of James thugs came up behind him and decked him. I of course couldn't stand by and just allow this guy to fight for me. So I broke my vow of pacifism and decked him. Surprisingly enough I knocked him to the ground. Still bearing the element of surprise I made my way over to James and punched him. This gave me time to help Daniel.

"I was wondering when you were going to get in this." he said with a devilish grin.

"What can I say, I don't believe in violence."

"Then you are in the wrong place."

"No I'm in the right place. I said I don't believe in violence, but sometimes it is necessary. Besides I couldn't just let those two use you as a punching bag on my behalf."

"Yeah, thanks but... watch out!"

Is warning came too late though because James's fist collided with my face. This put us both into action again. We worked like a team, like we had been fighting beside each other all our lives. Unfortunately three more guys decided to join in the fun and we knew defeat was inevitable. I could hear Daniel praying between punches, and God must have heard him because then the officers came in and broke us up. Although I now I don't know what I would have rather happened because James beating me to death seemed a mercy compared to what we had in store for us.

It had been forty eight hours of torture. We had done everything to military pushups to KP duty with no sleep and now we were cleaning the barracks with are toothbrushes. I guess the only good thing was that we weren't stuck with James. They had more torture then us because it had been five against two.

"You know cleaning the floor with my toothbrush was not what I had in mind when I joined the army." Daniel said.

"Me neither. I'm just glad I brought extra toothbrushes but; I had thought I would be serving my country in a productive manner and I would do something exciting. This is sorely lacking on both counts."

"In a hurry to die?"

"Nope, I just want to do something worthwhile. Stopping the Nazis from throwing us into a world of oppression and tyranny seemed to fall under that category." He whistled after I stopped speaking.

"Wow you sure do speak a mouthful don't you?"

I glared at him, I didn't think there was anything wrong with how I spoke.

"What's wrong with how I speak?"

"Noth'n you're just really long winded and I'm not used to hearing all that long speech stuff. But are you sure you're in the right place. You sound like you'd be better off as a politician."

I scrunched up my face. The idea of anyone comparing me to those crooks was appalling.

"I would never make it in politics. It doesn't have a place for my kind in it."

"What kind would that be?"

I paused for a minute I couldn't tell him the truth, so I would have to settle for the next best thing.

"The kind that is not willing to lie to sway people over."

"Makes since, though I thought for a minute there you were going to say something else."

I looked back up at him sharply. I couldn't believe it! Could he be implying that I was going to admit I was gay?

"Just exactly what are you implying Daniel?"

"Common Antony," that was the name I was called in here, "You don't have to lie to me about something like that. I may not agree with it but I will accept it."

"Dammit Daniel! I'm not gay, I have never been gay, and I never will be gay! Where do you get off on calling me that?"

"I may not have been here very long but I have picked up on a few things."

"Like what?"

"Every time any of the guys mention anything about sex or women you start blushing and get all flustered, just like a girl. That's not how normal guys respond to these types of things. In fact you're doing it right now."

He was right of course. These topics did always make me embarrassed but it was because I _was_ a girl.

"Look there's more to me than meets the eye okay. There's more to my story that you don't know. But I am not gay so please drop it."

"Just tell me alright. This game is becoming stupid."

I took a deep breath, I knew he wasn't going to give up without an answer so I decided to give him a partial truth.

"If you tell anyone I will kill you, understood?" I whispered to him. He nodded in confirmation and I continued, "Alright the reasons why I act like a blushing virgin every time you guys bring the topic of sex up is because I am one. There are you happy?"

His mouth dropped open in shock, until I told him to shut it.

"You're joking right? You're not really a virgin are you?" he asked when he regained his senses.

"Yes I am, now will you please drop it?"

"Wow, I never expected that." He whispered.

I was blessed by silence for a few minutes until I looked up at him. He had a look on his face that I would later tell me it was time to run far, far away. But I didn't know that at the time so I opened my big mouth.

"Alright you have something on your mind. What is it?"

He cracked a grin and then I knew I was in trouble.

"So why are you still a virgin?"

I coughed slightly and tried to ignore him but it was impossible.

"Daniel drop it now."

"Common just tell me and get it over with."

I glared at him but decided to tell him anyway.

"Alright, there are two reasons. One is because it says not to have sex until marriage."

"And the second one?" he said tauntingly.

"Shut up. The second one was because there was no one around where I lived worth doing that with."

He nodded slightly in acceptance.

"Alright I'll buy that."

"Good cause if you didn't you would be tough out of luck."

"So does this mean were friends now?"

"I guess so and seeing how you know too much it wouldn't be safe to say otherwise. I would have to kill you and that would be a waste of talent."

"Oh it's all about my ability to use a gun is it?"

"You know it is. Besides you would have never stepped in if it hadn't been because of mine."

There was a moment of awkward silence and I was starting to regret my words but he spoke up again.

"That's not true. I would have done it anyway."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Thanks Daniel."

"Don't mention it. You would have done the same for me."

"Yeah I would have."

"Besides we both need someone to have our six."

I rolled my eyes slightly, "Were in the marines, not the air force; and to think you said I speak weird. At least what I say is original and eloquent."

"There you go again! Do you always have to have the last word in everything, and does your last word always have to be one I don't know?"

"Yes and yes. Also eloquent means "having or exercising the power of fluent, forceful, and appropriate speech"."

"There you go again! You're worse than a woman!"

"Thank you."

"It wasn't meant to be a compliment."

"Thank you anyway."

**Back to present**

After that day we were inseparable and he was right we did have each other's six. I can honestly say I never had a better friend, even though the prat was always getting us into trouble. I don't think a week went by that we weren't doing KP or scrubbing the floor with our toothbrushes but it was bearable because we had each other.

"You fell in love with him didn't you mom?"

"At first I didn't know what I felt but yes I did fall in love with him. It caused a lot of problems for me to. I almost blew my cover several times."

"But you didn't did you?"

"No I didn't."

"Well what happened? Is Daniel my dad?"

"I can't tell you that or it would ruin the story."

"Well, continue on with it please."

"No its time for you to get some sleep, you have school tomorrow."

"But mom, there is no way I will get to sleep now!"

"Bed now or no story."

"Alright, alright I'm going."

I watch as my little girl sulks out of the room. It's almost laughable at how much like him, she looks right now. My heart aches slightly at the thought.

It's been sixteen years since he took his final breath in my arms. Sixteen years and yet it feels like it happened yesterday but some days it seems like an eternity ago. Oh how I wish I could turn back the hands of time to see his face again, to hear his laugh, or to hold him once again. I would give almost anything to be able to have that one passionate night last forever. One night. It seems so unfair that, that's I all I got with my only love. One night after having him right in front of me for months, yet I was unable to touch him. One night after months of being deprived of his presence. One night only to have him ripped from my arms by the perils of war. One night, one small taste of the fruit of love is all I got. It was just enough to make me long for more for the rest of my life. But I suppose I am lucky. I could have never gotten the chance. If I hadn't, how truly lonely I would be? Now that I think about it I did get more than one night. I have more than memories. He left more behind then that, he gave me our daughter and in her he left a piece of himself.

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_AN: Alright I hope this story is actually good. Please review. I don't care if they are flames. I really want to know how to make this story better. And what better way is there to do that then getting tips from your peers? Also I am not sure if this is going to be a one shot or not it all depended on if I get some ideas or not._


	2. Locked In

_AN: I would like to think Bobadoo and . for reviewing. Y'all may have a cookie!_

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The girl rolled over to lay on her back and stared at the ceiling. It was no use she couldn't sleep, not after all her mother had told her. It was simply cruel that her mother didn't tell her the rest of the story. Although it could be worse, her mother could have still refused to tell her anything. But right now that didn't mattered. What did matter was her imagination, (which she was usually grateful to had inherited from her mother) was driving her insane right now and costing her a good night's sleep.

It was too much to bear, she had to do _something_ to detract her. Reading a book seemed like a good idea, but the one she had been reading was downstairs. Unfortunately her mother was also probably downstairs and even if she wasn't, she probably would hear her anyway. Her mother had always been a light sleeper and would always catch her. She had never known how her mother did it but now that she knew part of the story it made sense now. This caused her to groan loudly. All her thoughts went back the story. She couldn't take it any longer, she had to get her book. Even if that meant her mother found her.

She slowly got out of her bed and made her way to the door. It was dark in the hallway but she could still see. The stairs were another matter entirely. She hated these stairs. The only good thing was that they forced her to go even slower, which made her quieter. When she reached the landing it was obvious that her mother wasn't there. With a sigh of relief she made her way over to where she left her book.

* * *

**Switch to Alice's POV**

"What are you doing up?" I ask.

My question gets a desired result. She jumps and turns around quickly. It's funny, I don't think I have ever seen her jump that high before.

"Mom you scared me!"

"Then I got the desired response. Now why are you up?"

My child's face pails and she stays silent for a minute before responding.

"I...I couldn't sleep. So I decided to read a book but it was down here. I'm sorry I woke you, I didn't mean to. I tried to be a quiet as possible."

She is extremely nervous. This amuses me even more but I suppose I can be intimidating when needed. Too bad it never worked during the war.

"You know Elle the more quiet you are, the more likely I am going to hear you."

This earns me a confused look from her. It's understanding though. It's something only a veteran would know; but she does need to understand.

"Eli I'm a vet. What's more, I survived by being stealthily. I'm trained to listen to everything. When I hear quiet footsteps sneaking around my house, my survival instincts kick in."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I never realized."

"And I never told you. Although I wish I had. Speaking of which, it that what is keeping you up?"

She glares at me before speaking, "Is that a rhetorical question?"

"No, it isn't." I say while chuckling,

"You're impossible, you know that?" She throws her hands up in exasperation. I smile. It is a picture that brings back fond memories.

"I know. Daniel use to say the same thing. In fact I don't think there was a day that went by that he didn't remind me how impossible I was." I pause and sigh, "You're so much like him."

"Really? In what way?"

"You carry yourself pride, but never let it go to your head. You're honorable and brave. You're also a trouble maker, and usually do things without a plan."

"I do not! I always do things with a plan. Sometimes they're not very good but I always do things with a plan."

"No his were never very good either." I say laughing, "I suppose it was a good thing he usually left the planning to me because if he hadn't, things would have ended up a lot worse. In fact I remember one time where he did have a plan. It was disastrous. Have a seat and I tell you it. We aren't getting anymore sleep tonight anyway. I do have to tell the background story first though."

* * *

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

It had been an uneventful week. This was unusual because either James or his thugs would bother us, or Daniel was getting us in trouble with one harebrained scheme or another. It did seem a little odd but I didn't really think much about it. That would prove to be a mistake.

It was around midday and I this was usually when I got my shower. This was the perfect time for me to because no one ever took a shower at this time. It was a little hard because I only had a little time between activities but I didn't really have a choice. There was no way I could take a shower with the guys. That would completely blow my cover. Another problem was all we could bring into the shower was a towel. We weren't allowed to bring our clothes. They had to stay out in the changing room. The door didn't lock either. So I had to get in and out fast.

I was about to get out of the shower when Daniel walked in. This scared the living hell out of me and the only thing I could be grateful for was that I already had my towel wrapped around anything that would blow my cover. I was still very flustered though and just had to open my big mouth.

"Dan...Daniel what are you doing here?"

This earned me a raised eyebrow and a moment of silence.

"Um...the same thing you are, taking a shower." He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was. "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No...no I'm...I'm just surprised. People never take one at this time." It sounded so lame to me and the way he was looking at me told me he thought so to. Unfortunately it was the only excuse I had.

"Sure. Now if you don't mind, I am going to take a shower."

I was about to rejoice that he dropped the conversation but then he dropped his towel. I coughed slightly before turning away quickly. I was just lucky he was already facing away from me when I turned away. I had to get out of there _now!_ So I quickly made my way over to the door and tried to open it, only to find it wouldn't open! I pushed on it again but it still wouldn't budge. I stopped and looked at it, willing it to open before I tried again but it still wouldn't move. Of course he noticed I hadn't left yet and had to comment on it.

"You're still here? Why? I thought you were in a hurry to leave."

I sighed but didn't turn around to face him.

"Daniel the door is locked."

"What? That door doesn't lock."

"Well it most certainly ain't opening."

"Let me see."

He walked over and tried to open the door. Once again it didn't move but that wasn't what I was paying attention to. I couldn't help but notice he hadn't covered up. Oh yes, men are _so_ modest! Lovely view though!

"Dammit, what is wrong with this door?" He asked.

That brought me out of my musings and I quickly made a note to slap myself once I got out of here.

"I don't know. Try harder." I told him.

"I am but it's not moving."

"Were locked in."

"That's not possible. There isn't a lock on this door."

"That doesn't change the fact were locked in."

"Someone must have put something in front of it then, but who would do this?"

It didn't even take us two seconds to come up with the answer.

"James." We said together.

"That's it! When I get out of here I'm gonna kill that little prick!" Daniel said while shoving the door one last time in frustration.

He didn't say anything after that. Probably because he was coming up with ways to get back at James, but that was fine with me, I didn't want to talk anyway. I was too worried about making sure everything was covered. I also was having an internal battle with myself. Part of me had to keep reminding the other part that throwing away my towel and jumping him was not at good idea. Unfortunately the other part firmly disagreed and kept bringing up many good reasons why it was a perfect idea. Luckily I didn't have wait very long for the CO to open the door. Since he was pretty pissed he left quickly to figure out who done it. Daniel must have been pretty pissed to because he got out of there very quick as well. Not that I complained. There was no way in hell my towel was leaving my body until I was alone. I didn't see him for the rest of the day.

Later that night I was on my bunk reading a book when he came and sat down on my bed. I looked up at him and my stomach filled with dread. He had that look on my face that told me it was time to get out of there fast. Unfortunately like always I ignored it.

"What have you done?"

"I haven't done anything, but I do need your help."

"No."

"But."

"No. Whatever you're coming up with leave me out of it! I want no part in it."

"Even if it involves James?"

At the minute he said James I was sold, and he knew it to.

"I'm in. Now what is this plan of yours?"

His face broke into a triumphant grin.

"Follow me."

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_AN: Alright, I need my readers to help me. What do you think should happen to James? Review with your ideas! Remember the sooner I get ideas, the sooner I will update. Thank you._


	3. The Plan

_A/N Once again I would like to say thank you to BrokenAngel1753, Bobadoo, and Baxley for reviewing. Thank you for all your ideas, tips, and suggestions. I need all I can get. Besides I want to know my readers opinion. It makes me a better writer. _

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_Oh and I forgot my disclaimer so here it is: I don't own anything from Saving Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg and Robert Rodat has that wonderful pleasure. I only own my original characters. Oh well, to bad. Now on with the story!_

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"You're insane! There is no way we will be able to pull this off!" I told him.

"We can and we will." He replied unfazed.

"Daniel, there is no way we will not get caught!"

"Who said anything about not getting caught?"

My eyes widened in shock. He was expecting to get caught!

"No, Daniel. I'm not doing this if were getting caught." I showed him the palms of my hands. "You see this? These are toothbrush callouses Daniel! Not to mention my knees are starting to lock up every time I get down on them. I swear the next time I might just be stuck like that!"

I thought this might discourage him, but I did not received the desired result. Instead it caused him to start laughing. In an attempt to seem imposing I folded my arms in front of my chest but this only caused him to laugh harder. Unfortunately I could never keep a straight face for very long, so I started to smile. Finally he stopped laughing and addressed me again.

"Look Antony, picture a bald, blue, itching James and try to tell me it's not worth it."

I did and found he was right The one thing that James held dear was his appearance. He was always trying to make sure he was perfect, especially his hair. He was obsessed with his hair.

"Alright how are we going to do this?"

"Well I was thankin'..."

"Oh that's a comforting thought." I said teasingly.

"Shut up! Anyway I was thankin' that if we got a hold of that junk he washes his hair with and replaced it with this," I looked at what he held up; it would defiantly do the trick, "that should take care of it. Now for turin' him blue and makin' him itch, I thought this would work." I had never seen it before and I hoped he was right.

"Alright how do you suggest we swap there out. He keeps his stuff locked away in his footlocker, and unless you know how to pick locks I don't see what we can do."

His grin told me that he did know how to pick locks.

"Alright where do I come into this?" I ask exasperatedly.

"I hate to ask this of you but I need a decoy. We need to keep James away from the barracks."

"Gees thanks, you know how I just love to be James's punching bag." I say sarcastically.

"I wasn't going to ask you to do that. No we just need something to keep him preoccupied."

"Alright something that doesn't have his fist colliding with my face. Hmmm...let me see. You know something like that hardly ever happens. I can't come up with anything." I paused for a minute and then it hit me. "How bout since this whole thing started with him locking us in the showers we return the favor. "

"Briant, only this time around we stick him with someone that hates him as much as we do."

"But that means we have to stick him with Riben. If he finds out he will kill us."

"Not after he figures out it was for a good cause. He'll thank us."

"Alright when are we going to do this?"

"We just have to wait for them to shower together."

This caused me to groan. I hated waiting just as much as I do now.

"This could take forever. I don't have that amount of patiences."

"I know. I have one question though. How did you ever become a sniper in the first place? Patience is a little bit essential."

"I guess I'm such a good shot that it isn't that important." I said with a shrug.

This caused him to roll his eyes.

"You're impossible, you know that?"

"I know, and thank you."

"It's was not meant to be a complement."

"I'll take it as one anyway. So now what are we going to do?"

"Well we need to start watching James and Riben."

"Ah great, I can see it already. 'Why are you watching me all the time? Oh I know why. You're fairy!' Yup, this is going to go over _real_ well." The sarcastic tone was back into my voice.

"No you're not going to be watching James, I am. Besides you're a marksman. You live off of stealth. It shouldn't be a problem for you."

"Easy for you to say. If I even look at James for more than two second, he thinks I'm checking him out. Which is absolutely absurd. Even if I was gay I wouldn't look at him twice. With his disposition, it isn't worth it."

"He thinks everyone is checking him out, especially the ladies. Which they ain't."

"He's full of it."

"Yeah he is." He paused for a minute before continuing. "Well we better get back to the barracks. No need to have the CO pissed at us before there is actually a reason."

"Hay is there any chance we wont get caught?"

"I suppose there is. Well thats if we manage to lock James and Riben in the bathroom, break into James footlocker, swap the stuff, and get out of there as quick as possible without anyone noticin', then were home free."

"So basically there isn't a snowballs chance in hell of us even pulling it off, much less not getting caught."

"Pretty much."

"Ah fantastic! Toothbrush here I come!"

"Hay just think how great it will be if we actually pull this off."

"You better be praying that we do pull this off cause if we don't I'm gonna kill you."

"I always am."

"Good."

I then turned and started walking back to the barracks. He followed quickly.

"Hay you wouldn't really kill me would you?" He asked.

"No but I am starting to wonder if you're worth all the trouble you cause."

"Oh you know I am."

I snorted and rolled my eyes.

"You're full of yourself."

"Nope just self assured."

More like a pain in my ass. I thought but didn't say it out loud.

That night started our first watch. It was painfully obvious we wouldn't get our chance that night and we didn't until almost a week later. I had just gotten out of the shower when I saw Riben go in and much to my surprise James followed him. Of course Daniel wasn't too far behind.

"Did I just see Riben and James go in there?" He asked, almost sounding like he didn't believe it.

"Yeah."

"They alone?"

"Yup."

"Wow I didn't think that would every happen. Alright lets get this over with."

We then jammed the door and made our way to the barracks. It was empty, which wasn't really surprising at this time. Remember this was when I always took my showers because there wasn't much time in between and no one was ever in there. The same was fortunately true for the barracks. He quickly got started on James's footlocker. I tried to stand watch without looking to suspicious. Time seemed to tick by slowly and I thought he would never get it open or we would get caught, but that didn't happen. He actually surprised me when he walked up to me. He was always too sneaky for his own good.

"Alright lets switch these over and get them back in the trunk." He said to me.

In the bathroom we dumped out the stuff and tried to switch it over. This was difficult for me because I have absolutely no natural grace. I think I might have gotten more of it on us then in the container. After the switch we put it back in his footlocker and made our way through the rest of the day. Of course when the CO found James and Riben he interrogated all of us but never got to the bottom of it. He was really pissed by this time because it had happened twice already. Normally he would have suspected us but because it happened to us last time he had no reason to. It was later that night that we may had made a big mistake.

"Daniel I've been thinking. We locked him in when he was taking a shower. Where does he use the stuff we switched?"

His eyes widened in realization.

"You don't think he had extra of that stuff do you?"

"Knowing him he probably did."

"How the hell did we over look that when we came up with this plan?"

"I have no idea."

"Dammit! All that work for nothin'!"

Yup that about summed it up. Our plan had been foiled by over simple site, and it had seemed so perfect once it got started. No one even interrupted us because of what time of day it was. Wait a minute.

"Maybe not."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you know what time it was. You have to really hurry if you plan on getting a decent shower then. Maybe he was in such a hurry that he didn't have time; and now that I think about it I didn't see him take anything out of the shower with him other then his towel. Did you?"

"No, no I didn't."

"Well theres still some hope then. We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow."

Tomorrow came and we kept watch to see what would happen. I also kept my camera handy. I didn't think it would work immediately but if it did there was no way I wasn't getting pictures. Finally James went to take his shower and when he came out it was a sight to behold. He was looked like a jumping blue berry that was scratching everywhere, while trying to hold on to his hair. A crowd gathered quickly which allowed me to take pictures with out being too conspicuous. After I got a sufficient amount, I left for the barracks and hid my camera. It wasn't long after that, that the CO called everyone to the barracks.

"I want to know which of you idiots thought this would be a good idea, and I want to know now!" Of course no answer was forthcoming. I just tried to stand as still as possible and not look guilty, which was a very hard thing to do. "Alright since no one is going to come forward hold out your hands." Everyone did because they had no choice but I was a reluctant to do so. It seemed that the CO knew something that we had overlooked. "The stuff that was used to turn James blue shows up with a UV light. It is very hard to get off even if washed right away so even if the person isn't blue, it will still show up."

This caused my heart to sink. It wouldn't just be on our hands, it would be all over our arms and on the clothes we wore yesterday because I got it everywhere. All I could do while I waited for him to get to us was hope that he was bluffing, unfortunately he wasn't. My arms were lit up like a Christmas Tree.

"I should have known. Am I right to suspect that you also participated in this to Jackson?"

Daniel didn't really have much of a choice so he answered in the affirmative.

"The way you two act I would think I was taking care of a bunch of five year olds instead of grown men!" He yelled, "For this stunt you two will be doing KP duty and scrubbing the floor with your toothbrushes for months! If I come up with anything else you will be doing it to! Understand?"

"Yes sir!" We replied quickly.

"Well get to work!"

He didn't let up on his promise either. About three months latter we where still scrubbing the floors. The only good thing was the other solders thought we were a hero. Of course James on the other hand was doing everything he could to get back at us. Luckily we were on our toes and he didn't get us to bad.

One day we were scrubbing the floors. I was complaining of course and Daniel was just listening to me rant. Thats how the delivery boy found us.

"Package for McNeal, Antony."

"Here." I grabbed it and started to open it.

"What is it?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know. I'm not expecting anything." When I finally saw what it was I busted out laughing.

"Hay what is it?"

"Here have a look."

I handed him the pictures and he started laughing to.

"You, you took pictures! Why didn't you tell me?" He said while laughing.

"I didn't think about it. All this floor scrubbing put it out of my mind."

"You know what would be great?"

"No what?"

"If we could blow these pictures up."

"Oh we can if we have enough money."

"We do."

"Alright when we get some time away from here we will do it."

The next day we went and had them blown up and then plastered the whole camp with them. The look on James's face was priceless. Unfortunately we found our selves right back cleaning the floor again. When I started complaining again Daniel drug on of the pictures out of his pocket and gave it to me.

"Antony if you can look at that and tell me it wasn't I'll let you continue complaining but if you can't I want you to shut up. Now was it worth it?"

I looked at the picture, it was my favorite. James had all of his hair gone and was rolling around on the floor like a dog. You couldn't tell he was blue but the slight change in darkness told you something wasn't normal.

"It's worth it. More then worth it."

* * *

_A/N Sorry it took so long to reply. I have been sick and I have had a lot of school work to do. I hope it was worth the wait. As always please tell me what you thought. If it sucked I want to know. The only way I'm going to get any better is if you tell me what I did wrong. Oh to give you fair warning I proably will not update untill next weekend. I still have a lot of work to do._


	4. The Locker

_A/N: Thank you BrokenAngel1753, Baxley, My.Psuedonym.__Was.Taken, EVILxELMOx666, __Attonlover and BunnyChan Moody, and Bobadoo for reviewing. I would also like to thank Attonlover and BunnyChan Moody, Baxley, FeeLache, and Goldenlilies for faveing my story. Thank you all for being so patient. Oh and by the way, I spent four hours with my English teacher going over commas, so I hope I have improved. Now on with the story!_

* * *

**Present**

"You actually did that?" Elenor asks, skeptically.

"Of course, I did," I pause. "You don't believe me do you?"

"No, no I don't."

"You believed me when I said, I suck into an army base, but you don't believe I pulled a prank on someone, why?"

"Well, you going into an army base is something I can see you doing, but I can't see you pulling a prank on anyone. It's not something you would do now."

I smile slightly before speaking again, "Point taken, it isn't something I would do _now_, but back then was a completely different story. I was a different person, and I had partner in crime. Daniel had a lot of influence on me. In fact I don't think I would have done most of those things if he hadn't talked me into them."

"Still, I don't believe you."

"Ever the skeptic," I mutter before saying out loud, "I'll be right back."

I quickly make my way to the basement, and then to the back of the room, where I have hidden my footlocker. I pause before uncovering it, if I do there is no going back. By nature I am a coward, that's why it has taken me so long to tell my daughter anything. I sigh, and move everything off of it. It's already too late, anyway.

After dragging the locker into the living room, I look at Elenor. Her eyes are wide with shock.

"You were telling the truth," she manages to get out, "you actually did join the army."

"Yes I did," I tell her while unlocking the footlocker. When I open it I freeze, and look inside its depths. In my mind I can see a different time, a different world, but really there is only things from a different time.

"Mom, you alright?" Elenor's voice brings me back to reality.

"Yes, I'm fine," my voice tells a completely different story. I begin to rummage through the footlocker. It doesn't take me long to find what I want. "Eli, look at this," I hand her a picture. She takes one look at it and starts laughing.

"You believe me now?" I ask her, when she clams down.

"Yes I believe you," she pauses and looks at me. "Where have you been hiding all of this?"

"In the basement."

Elenor snorts before speaking again, "Figures you would put this in the only place I don't like going."

"It wouldn't have done you any good anyway. Even if I had put it right in front of you, you couldn't have gotten in it. I got a combination lock after the last time someone broke into it."

"Someone broke into it, who?"

"James did," I say as if it is the most obvious thing in the world, which to me it was.

"Why?"

I raze my eyebrow. "Did you really think James would let me get away with that little stunt Daniel and I pulled?"

"No, not really," she replies, "What did he do?"

"Sit down and I'll tell you."

She quickly complies, and patently waits for the story to begin again.

* * *

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

There is one rule in revenge: it is a dish best served cold. James didn't get this memo, well not at first. For about three months he had been trying to get back at me and Daniel, mostly me. All of his stunts had not been very effective. They had all been poorly thought out, and we had been expecting retaliation. The amount eventually thinned out, then stopped altogether. After three months of being in flight or fight mode, I was exhausted and fully embraced a chance to relax. This would prove to be my mistake.

Daniel and I were making our way back to the barracks. It had been a rather calm day, and it seemed to be coming to a calm end. I was fully expecting to be enthralled in the new book I had gotten. Luck was not with me that night. When we got to the barracks, I only had eyes for my book. If I hadn't been so absorbed in getting to it and reading it, I would have figured something out was about to happen. Actually, if I had even taken the time to observe even my footlocker before I opened it, I would have known something was not right. I didn't though. I just started digging through my footlocker. It wasn't until until James reached into my footlocker, that I even realized something was wrong.

"Well it looks like I was right, you _are_ a fag!" James said.

I looked what he had in his hand, and was horrified. It was a pair of very sleazy, frilly, woman's underwear. I hadn't worn anything feminine since I had came here, and I never even wore anything like that before I came here. That didn't matter though. I could tell I was as good as dead if I didn't come up with something soon.

"Those are not mine. I have never seen them before," I told him.

"Who else could they belong to?" he sneered.

"I don't know but they are not mine!" I insisted.

"Why should I believe that?"

"Come on James, leave him alone," Daniel said. "He just probably snuck a pretty gal in, and wanted to keep a souvenir. Right, Antony?"

"Yes," I replied, even though it made me want to gag.

"Like I'm going to believe that. It doesn't matter anyway, I'm not living with a creep like you around anymore!"

I didn't have time to react before he slammed me up against the wall. He manged to punch me in the gut and in the face before Daniel pulled James off of me.

"Leave him alone, or I will call the MPs on you," Daniel said as he shoved James away from him.

James snarled, "Your still defending him after seeing that, I can't believe you!"

"It doesn't mean anything," Daniel replied.

During this I had grabbed the underwear and looked at them. What was on them caused me to grin wildly. "Thats for sure," I said while trying not to laugh. "Daniel take a look at these."

He took one look at them and both eyebrows went up. "James would you care to explain why _your _name is on these?"

That was it, and I couldn't stop from laughing.

"Let me see those," James demanded, "This isn't my name. It says Jamie."

"Does it matter?" Daniel asked, "Your the only one here with a name close to it. Knowing a person like that, they would use a more feminine version of their name."

"That doesn't mean anything," James insisted.

I could no longer keep my mouth shut. "That's what we tried to tell you before you gave me a bloody nose," I said.

"But..."

"Shut up and listen." Daniel said, "I don't think your gay, I think you broke into Antony's locker and put that in there to give you an excuse to beat the hell out of him, but if you don't drop it we can always push it."

"If you drop it we will never speak another word about it," I said.

He could have continued, we honestly didn't have anything that we could really accuse him of, trying to connect his name with the one on the underwear was a bluff, but luckily he didn't call our bluff.

"Alright, I wont bother you anymore about it. Just say away from me, you freak," he said, and then walked away.

"I wont have a problem with that," I replied.

Daniel looked at me. "Do you really think they were his?" he asked when James was out of ear shot.

I grinned and said, "No."

"Then who's?"

"Well I can't be sure, but I do know his sister's name is Jamie," I said, with my grin growing even more.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry, this was a filler chapter. I had major writers block and I just took an idea I got from Baxley, tweaked it a bit, and ran with it. Hopefully I will be able to come up with something soon. I know where I want to go with this, I just don't know how to get there. I need to know, do you want me to put another chapter of them at the camp, or do you want me to get on with the story and the war_?


	5. Learning and Getting Closer

_A/N: Thank you all for all you're reviews, faves, and watches. You all know who you are :D I am so sorry for taking so long to reply. I have been so busy with my senior year and other things that I really haven't had a lot of time. I hope you'll like this, and I hope it was worth the wait._

* * *

**Present**

"So did he leave you alone after that?" my daughter asked.

I nodded and then paused. "Well he did for a while. I mean there was a few times that he bothered us, but it wasn't anything major. Well it wasn't until after we left basic that it started up again. We did have a good time before that though."

"Oh what do you mean?" she asked.

"Well we had a few good moments in the camp and one good one out of the camp as well," I told her. "I'll tell you about it."

* * *

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

Everyone in the barracks was excited, well everyone except me. I was more nervous than anything. We had been allowed a few hours leave from the base to into the town, which actually meant the local bar. It would be a lot of dancing, drinking, and of course hooking up with women. This was potently problematic. One there was no way I was going to be hooking up with anyone for obvious reasons, two I was never much of a drinker, and three I've never danced before. You could say I had two left feet and a half. So yes I was beyond nervous, and really had no idea what to do. Not going was out of the question. It would give James a reason to start up his tormenting me about being gay, and there was no way I was going to let that peace stop. However if I started to dance with anyone it would be a big disaster. All I could hope is that no one would want to dance with me.

So there I was, lying on my bunk pretending to read my book. There was no way I could read it right now. I was too nervous, and there was too much commotion going on as well. It is sort of funny. I've seen many women run around, preparing for dates. They always obsessed about every little thing. Does my hair look okay? Does this dress make me look fat? Is my makeup just right, and does it cover up every little thing that might harm my appearance? Women do this because they want the guy to pay attention to them, to like them, to dance with them, and most importantly fall in love with them and live happily ever after till the end of their days. As I found out today, the process with men is quite the same. Does this uniform make me look good? Is my hair alright and the list goes on, however the motive is different. Men do this because they want the woman they've chose that night to be attracted to them, lay on the charm so that the woman really can't say no, and then head up to the hotel room for a quick shag. Course there are exceptions to this rule, as there are with the women, but most either fall into one category or the other. It is a rather frustrating problem for us women that has only gotten worse as time goes on. Women want love. Men want sex, and then they'll see if love can come after that. I had always wondered what guys did when preparing for dates, and now I know, I really wish I didn't. It was a little hard for me to sit there and not say anything. I've been on that end of obsessing to make myself look good for a guy. It's hard work and a tiring experience, and today I found out that it really means nothing to the people we try so hard to impress. They'd sleep with us no matter what as long as we looked half way decent and were willing. It highly disgusted me to see this, but I could say nothing, so I said nothing and continued on pretending to read my book. I was finally about to lose my patient and say something when Daniel plopped down beside me on my bunk.

"Antony why ain't you getting ready? Ain't you excited?" he asked me.

I made a show of looking over the edge of my book at him, looking as uninterested in the idea as possible (which wasn't hard). "No," I told him flatly and then looked back at my book again.

I didn't have it long before it was torn from my hands. I looked up at Daniel, clearly annoyed.

"Why not? We are goin' to be away from this place," he said gesturing at the barracks with his arm, "and we are goin' to get a chance to relax and dance with some pretty gals."

I almost sighed when he said that. Yes being away from here was a good thing, but dancing and girls was not. I almost didn't answer him, but he was seriously wanting an answer, so I gave him the simplest one I could find, and the one the closest to the truth as well. "One I'm saving myself remember and two," I paused pretending to be embarrassed, and then continued in a whisper, "I can't dance."

As expected he smiled and then started laughing. He was laughing hard for a few moments, and then started to calm down. He shook his head and then said, "We don't all expect you to get laid tonight. I won't be doing anything myself other than dancing. Also I can help you with the dancing problem."

I raised my eyebrow, curious on how he could possibly be able to help me with that. Finally he said, "Come with me, I'll teach you how."

My eyes went wide, I wasn't expecting that. I didn't have a chance to reply as he was already walking away. I quickly stood up and followed him. He didn't say anything and neither did I as he led me to a storage room. It wasn't one that was used often, well unless one of them had snuck a girl in, and it also locked from the inside. My curiosity was overflowing, and it only got worse when we were inside and then he locked the door.

"Okay that way no one will bother us," he said and then looked at me. "Now come here."

"And do bloody well what?" I asked him, still not quite understanding what was going on.

He just rolled his eyes and then walked over to me. "I'm going to teach you how to dance," he told me like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Now common, I'm not going to do anything to you."

I looked at him like he had two heads. I couldn't believe that I was actually going to be able to dance with him, and I hoped I could contain myself. Of course another problem is I had no idea what to do with my hands. Sensing my obvious confusion, he stepped closer to me and took control.

"Okay I'm goin' to first put you in the woman role, it'll be easier, and the dancing is quite the same except where the hands are at and who is leading," he told me.

I couldn't help but teasing him and a grin broke across my face. "Oh, and exactly how do you know they are the same? From experience?" I asked him.

He grinned back and said, "Oh shut up." It was meant to tell me off but with the grin it had little if no effect.

"Whatever you say sweet cheeks," I said still teasing him.

This time he punched me on the shoulder, it didn't hurt and it wasn't supposed to. Then he said, "Now seriously cut that out, and let me teach you." I nodded my consent and was still smiling of course. He was as well as he directed my hands to the right place. One hand found its way to his shoulder, the other to his hand. Then I felt his other hand wrap around my waist. This is when I almost panicked. I was clearly not built the same way as a man, and even though training had hardened my body, I was quite worried he would be able to tell the difference. If he did he never said anything though. He didn't even look like me being in his arms phased him. It did faze me though. Here I was, dancing for the first time with a guy. It was hard to contain myself to say the least. His body felt good pressed up against mine, and I could only hope that that would happen more often. Of course it wouldn't but a girl could dream right? Anyway he finally spoke and directed my attention away from his body and to his face. I looked up at him. It was sort of embarrassing, I was much shorter than him. I saw the grin go across my face, and knew I wouldn't like what was going to come out of his mouth.

"Ello gorgeous," he said teasingly. Under normal circumstances him calling me gorgeous would have been a good thing, however I was playing the part of a guy so it was not a good thing at all. I almost jerked my hand out of his and punched him, but he kept me from doing that. "Now let's get this started," he said normally, like he hadn't almost just gotten smacked a few moments ago. "Okay it's really quite simple. Just follow my lead, and listen to me count." Then he started to move, and I followed him. At first I was a little confused as to where to put my feet, and stepped on his a few times, but then I got to get the hang of it. I listened to him count 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 over and over again. It was simple and I did alright. He was actually really good at it, or as far as I could tell he was good at it. He smiled as he saw me get better, and then I saw him smirk. I knew he was coming up with something but didn't know what just yet. "You're doing really well," he told me still with that smirk on his face. "Actually it seems like its coming natural to you."

"You really think so?" I said and then was horribly surprised he dipped me down. I let out a surprised noise, and then clung to him. This was not a good thing. I began to hear him laughing, and looked at his face.

"Yeah I think so," he said while still laughing. I would have smacked him if I could, but if I did the only thing that would be supporting me would be his arms, which would probably drop me if I smacked him.

I settled for glaring at him instead, which of course only made him laugh more. "Put me right side up Daniel or I will do something horrible to you," I told him. I actually didn't mind being in his arms, but it had really surprised me, and also I needed to get out of his arms or I was going to do something stupid.

"Like what?" he asked still teasing me.

My eyes narrowed and I glared at him even more. "I know where you sleep Daniel," I told him threateningly. "I know where your private belongings are, and I have easy access to your food because I have KP duty this week. You do not want to push this."

While we were best friends in there and we always had each other's back, he knew when to stop. Also me having access to his food was really not a good thing in his brain at all. So he raised me up, still grinning all the while. "You really are good at dancing," he said and then once again smirked, "and you really fill the role well." He laughed again and then winked at me.

This time I didn't yell at him or threaten to smack him, I laughed along with him. Partly because it was funny but mostly because I knew why I filled the role so well. After we had calmed down I said, "Alright so is it my turn to take you around the room, eh storage closet?" We both laughed a little more and he nodded.

"Yeah come over here," he said. It looked like he was trying hard not to tease me. It wouldn't be long though. I walked over to him again, and he put my hands where they needed to be. This time mine found their way to his hand and around his waist, his to my hand and shoulder. It felt awkward and a lot less natural than it did the other way, and of course it did. "Alright now it's the same idea as we had before only this time you lead. I'll still count," he said.

"Alright," I said and then started to lead. This was much more difficult. It was awkward, and it didn't go as smoothly. I didn't step on his feet this time, and luckily I started to get better. I didn't try to dip him like he did me. We would have ended up top heavy, and I would have fallen on top of him. He seemed to realize this as well, and didn't say anything about it. We continued dancing for a few moments, and then once it was clear I had the general idea we stopped. I was reluctant to, and it almost seemed like he was as well.

"Alright you got it down, and you'll be fine," he said and then smirked again. "Now let's get you ready for some pretty gal that I'm sure will wanna dance with you."

I just smiled and shook my head. I followed behind him, and looked at him as we made our way back to the barracks. I knew he was teasing once again, but it sort of bothered me a little. It wasn't a girl I wanted to dance with, I would have been happy to stay here all night and just dance with him. Actually I wouldn't have mind dancing horizontally with him either. I blushed slightly and shook my head, trying to clear my head of those thoughts. It wasn't something I needed to think about, if I did it would cause problems for me later. First thing was first. I had to focus on what was going to go on tonight. I had a feeling I was not only going to be absolutely miserable, but jealous as well. How was I going to keep myself from punching the woman who was going to end up dancing with Daniel tonight? It was going to really be a test of resistance.

* * *

_A/N: Like I said I am sorry that it has taken me so long to reply. I hoped you enjoyed this, and there is more to come do not worry. I'm not going to disappear just like that. You should be able to expect about two more chapters very soon. Sadly after these chapters are up I will not be able to reply until after graduation. It is truly crunch time for me, and I have a lot to do. Please reply, and tell me what you think of this chapter. I want to know you're all still out there, and I still need ideas. Thank you all for being so patience._


	6. Person From the Past

_A/N: Alright my readers, I am back! Thank you for all of your replies, I really appreciate it. I am sorry for not replying sooner but here is a new chapter. I hope you like it!_

* * *

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

The room was filled with laughter and dancing couples. It was interesting to see the men I had been living with for so long finally get a chance to lighten up. People who I thought I would never see smile were having the time of their lives. It was the freedom that was doing this to them. Freedom from bellowing officers, KP duty, and most of all responsibility. They didn't have the responsibility of being perfect all the time. Granted they still had to act like a proper solder, but the responsibility wasn't as great.

It was good to see them like this even though I was almost completely miserable. The only thing that kept me from breaching that line was the music. I always loved jazz, I could listen to it for hours, and it just did something to me. So it made sitting at a table, watching the other couples dance around me somewhat bearable. There was something that wasn't bearable at all however.

I leaned back in my chair and took a rather large drink from my glass. Normally I wouldn't drink, however the situation called for it. Watching Daniel dance with one girl after another was slowly driving me insane. I wanted to be there dancing with him, not all these other girls but there was nothing I could do in this situation. Even though I couldn't do anything about it my eyes were permanently fixed on him. This was probably a bad idea considering that James would have a field day if he saw it, but I didn't really care. I continued to observe Daniel until he came back to the table and sat down.

"Why ain't you dancing with anyone?" he asked me.

"No one would want to dance with me," I told him.

He laughed and then shook his head. "Have you asked anyone?"

"No."

"Why not?" he asked as he crossed his arms.

I looked him in the eyes and then replied in a deadpan voice, "Nothing is catching my eye."

He frowned and then said, "There are plenty of nice gals in this room. How is none of them catching your eye?"

I sighed and took another drink from my glass. I couldn't explain to him the real reason, so I would just have to explain it the best I could. "They just aren't," I told him, "and I'm not really in the mood to dance anyway."

He just stared at me for a few moments, clearly not pleased with my answer. When he spoke his voice had an edge to it, one that I hadn't before. It wasn't angry, but it was more like a mixture of disappointment and frustration. "You are going to dance with at least one person tonight. That is non-negotiable. I did not teach you how to dance so you can just sit here and drink."

Those words stung, especially the last one. I placed my glass down and then looked back up at him. "Fine," I said and then began to look around the room. I decided I might as well get it over with. I looked for a few moments but still didn't see anything that cached my eye. There was only one person I wanted to dance with but that wasn't going to happen. Most of the women seemed to be much taller than myself, and dancing with them would just be embarrassing. After a few moments of looking, under Daniel's watchful eye, I sighed and looked back at him. I knew I had an almost pained look on my face, and his face softened.

"You're really not good at this are you?" he asked me.

"No," I sighed

"Antony pardon me for asking this, but have you ever even been out on a date with a girl?"

I looked at him, sighed once again, and shook my head. It was the truth, but I hadn't ever been on a date with anyone either.

"Well that explains a lot," he said in almost a whisper.

I was about to reply when a familiar redhead appeared in front of me.

"Would you care to dance with me?" she asked.

I looked at her in shock, and was about to say something when Daniel cut in. "Yes he will," he said and looked at me telling me to go.

Finally I was able to snap out of my shock enough to stand up, and lead her on the dance floor. Luckily a song that I was able to dance to begin to play, and I began to lead her.

"What are you doing here Jessie?" I asked her as I looked at her face. She was grinning back at me. She was a little shorter than me, which was good, but it was still a surprise to see her.

"I should be the one asking you that," she said, "but if you must know I'm a nurse here."

"Oh," I said. I was still in shock.

"So why are you here?" Jessie asked me.

I laughed slightly and said, "Well it should be obvious."

"You're insane. Do you know that you're family is going insane trying to figure out what happened to you?"

I looked back at her again. I hadn't really been thinking much about my family since I had been out here. There wasn't much of a point considering I couldn't send them any mail. They would try everything they could to get me out of here and blow everything.

"You should write to them, tell them you're okay," she said when I didn't say anything.

I sighed and shook my head. "I can't Jessie," I told her. "They would want me to come back home. I can't have that, I've come to far already."

She sighed as well and then said, "Yes I suppose you are right. They do need to know however. Especially if you go over to the war."

"I'll tell them if I end up finding out that I am going over there."

"Alright that's better than nothing," she said.

I looked back at her and then said, "If that time comes will you give them the letter? I can't have them trace it back to me."

Jessie nodded. "I'll do that for you," she said.

We continued to dance for a few moments in silence, and then I finally spoke. "So are you going to stay here and help us, or are you going to be transferred over to there?"

"I really don't know," she said. "It just really depends on where they need me at. If they call for me I'll go. "

"I hope you don't have to go over there," I told her. "I don't think you would be ready for it."

"Are you?" Jessie asked me.

I didn't say anything for a few moments and really thought about it. I had never actually asked myself that question even though I knew it was a big possibility. In fact it could even happen tomorrow but I had never thought about it. I suppose that I had ignored it because it is something that no one really wants to face. I had come to enjoy being at the base with Daniel, but that could all change in a second.

"I really don't know," I finally said. "Actually I don't think so, I don't think any amount of training can prepare you to go into a place like that."

"Well if you are over there just be careful," she said. "Do not get yourself killed, I don't think I could live with the guilt when I actually had a chance to keep you safe."

I smiled and I looked into her hazel eyes. "Don't worry I won't get killed, I promise."

"You better not," she said and laughed slightly.

"Oh I won't," and then finished in a whisper, "I'm much much worse than any American GI, I'm a woman. It will take a lot more than just a gun to kill me." This caused both of us to start laughing for a few moments. When we finally both calmed down I spoke again. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure what is it?"

"I can't risk my family being able to contact me even when I am over there, so is it alright that I send the letters to you and you repost them to my family?"

"Yes that's fine, any other way I can help?"

I thought about it for a few moments but shook my head. "No I don't think I have any other way you can help me right now."

"Alright well come here so I can give you my address here," Jessie said, then stopped dancing, and walked over to a nearby table. She took out a pen and paper and then wrote on it. She then handed it to me. "Just get a hold of me if you need anything okay?'

"Okay thank you," I said as I pocketed the paper.

"Well I have to go, I'll see you sometime," she said and then left.

I then turned around and went back to the table where Daniel was sitting at. As soon as I sat down he began to speak.

"Well how did it go?" he asked.

"Fine," I told him.

"Just fine? Common I seen her give you something, what was it?"

I rolled my eyes and then shook my head. "Just her mail address," I said. "I know her from back home, she's an old friend that's all."

He crossed his arms and then said, "You're no fun."

"Then why do you keep being around me?" I said with a smirk.

"I don't know, I keep asking myself that as well."

I glared at him and then said, "I'll keep that in mind the next time you need someone to help you pull of one of your crazy stunts." Then I stood up and began to walk out of the building.

"Hey wait!" he said and hurried after me.

I slowed down enough for him to catch up with me, and we walked in silence for a few moments.

"So did you have fun?" he asked now smiling at me again.

I looked at him and pretended to think about it for a few moments before I smiled. "Yeah I suppose I had a little fun," I said.

"Just a little?"

"Quit pushing it, a little is all you're going to get out of it." I said.

"Like I said, you're not fun."

I looked at him and then said, "You wouldn't have even a third of the amount of fun you have now if I wasn't here." I then laughed, he began to laugh along with me.

"Alright you win," he said.

I grinned at him and then said, "I always do."

"Hey now don't let it go to your head!" he quickly replied.

* * *

_A/N: I have finished my school and have my own computer, so nothing will get in my way of writing...except maybe writer's block. Hopefully you will all give me ideas to keep this story going. I hope you liked this chapter. Once again it was another filler, but I needed to do something to get me into the swing of things. If you have any ideas please let me know. I need to know what I am doing wrong or right._


	7. Transfer

_A/N: Finally I've gotten the chapter up. I am so sorry for taking so long. Summer has killed all of my creativity. Thank you all for replying. I really appreciate those who helped me decide which way I was going to have this story go._

* * *

**Present**

"Jessie? You mean Kay's mom?" Eleanor asked me.

I nodded my head and Eleanor's eyes went wide. "She never said anything about her mom being a army nurse."

"Of course not. War is something that we prefer to forget." I told her. "Besides her husband, Kay's father, also died in that war. It is no surprise that she would want to forget."

"You mean just like you?" She wasn't accusing me when she asked this, which was a bit surprising. Before that was completely different, but now since I had finally opened up to her, she seemed to be growing and understanding more as well.

I nodded once again but didn't say anything. An awkward silence surrounded us, and no one said anything for a few moments.

"Um, what happened after that thing with James? Did he bother you two again?" Eleanor asked, trying to break the silence.

"Only a little," I told her. "It was nothing compared to what he use to do, and most of the time Daniel and I was able to dodge his attempts. He didn't stand a chance with us together. However that all changed a few weeks after that incident."

One eyebrow went up and she looked at me quizzically. "What do you mean it changed?"

I let out a sigh and shook my head slightly. It was something I wasn't happy about even now. It robbed me of so much time. "A few weeks later I got a letter," I told her. "I was being sent overseas. However not everyone was getting this letter. They were slowly sending us over and I was selected to go then. However Daniel had not been."

* * *

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

It was a quiet day in the barracks, actually it had been quiet ever since James had waved the white flag. I was currently absorbed in a new book that I had just gotten recently, and Daniel was in the bunk above me doing God knows what. I had just gotten into a really good section of my book when I was drug out of my thoughts by mail delivery.

"Letter for McNeal, Antony," the kid called out.

This perked both the interest of me and Daniel because I never got mail, and I hadn't contacted Jessie yet.

"Here," I said very curious and grabbed the letter. I looked it over and was even more surprised to see that it was from the army.

"Who's it from?" Daniel asked as he dropped down onto my bunk.

"The army."

"Well open it," he told me.

I looked at him and it was clear I was reluctant to do that. But then I finally started to open it. When I saw what it read I felt my stomach drop. This couldn't be happening.

"Antony what is it, what is wrong?" Daniel asked but I didn't reply, I was too shocked. Finally he tore the letter out of my hands and began to read it.

"What!" he finally shouted after he had read enough, this caused me to snap out of my shock.

"They, they are transferring me," I said numbly.

Daniel shook his head. "But this can't be right. You're with this squad. You shouldn't be sent over just yet. You should be goin' over when the rest of us go. How can they do this?"

"I don't know but they are."

"No they ain't," Daniel said as he stood up. "We are goin' to our CO."

"But what is he going to be able to do?" I asked him.

Daniel shook his head. "I don't know, just come with me."

I sighed and stood up, and then I followed him. It didn't take us long to reach the CO's office.

"What are you two up to now?" he asked when he saw us. He still thought we were really troublemakers and even though we hadn't been getting into trouble lately.

I took the letter from Daniel's hand and then handed it to our CO as I said, "Um I just received this in mail call."

He looked over the letter and then looked back at us after he had finished reading it. "You're being transferred. What's the problem?" he asked.

Daniel leaned over our CO's desk, which wasn't a move most men would try, and then pointed at the letter. "This has to be a mistake," he said. "Antony is part of our squad. He's supposed to go over there when we go over there, not before."

The CO glared at him for a moment, Daniel got the hint and then backed away slightly. After he did the CO said, "It's not a mistake. They are sending people over there so that we can get ready, you know that they've been doing this for months, McNeal got selected for that. Besides they need a good sniper over there and there's really no reason to have two snipers in the same squad." It looked like Daniel was about to say something but the CO cut him off. "There is nothing that I can do and I'm not going to argue with you about this Jackson!" the CO snapped. "You're both dismissed. McNeal get packing you're leaving tomorrow and don't say a word Jackson! You are still under my command and I can make sure you're real busy while your friend is gone."

I grabbed the letter and quickly left, Daniel followed me without arguing. We both knew that he would make good on his threat if Daniel pushed it. We walked back to the barracks without saying anything, there was nothing we could say. However when we finally reached the barracks the silence broke when we saw what was going on.

"What the blood hell?" I asked.

"I ain't got a clue," Daniel replied confused.

A group of people were together laughing and carrying on, and this group seemed to have surrounded James. It didn't make sense because we didn't usually do that and most people stayed away from James except for his lackeys. However we were soon about to find out what all the trouble was when James managed to see us and went through the group of people to get to us. I suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, one like the ones I would get before James had been shown his place. Whatever was going on couldn't be a good thing for me.

"Well boys it looks like this is our last night together," James said when he reached us. My eyebrows quickly went up. Being free of him is something I had wanted for so long. It seem like it was too good to be true and of course it was.

"What did you do? Get dishonorably discharged?" Daniel asked him.

James glared at him for a moment before he shook it off. "No I'm being transferred to Europe. I'm finally getting out of here and into the real thing!" he told us.

The moment he said this my heart sank down into my stomach. James was being transferred to Europe. I was also being transferred to Europe. By some twisted fate I was being stuck with him again and Daniel wouldn't be there to help me. I was as good as dead. If the Axis forces didn't get me, James sure would.

"That's great James," Daniel told him. "They picked a perfect person to send first."

James smiled at what he thought was a complement and said, "I thought that to."

"Yeah you'll make great fodder," Daniel deadpanned.

James glared at him and then hustled back to the group. Normally something like that would have sent both of us into a fit of laughter however neither of us laughed this time. We both knew how serious this situation was. Also the thought about James being sent as fodder didn't make me comfortable because I was being sent over as well.

"Daniel you don't really think they are sending the fodder over first do you?" I asked him however I didn't look at him. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I could see Daniel look at me out of the corner of my eye before he said, "No of course not. I was just doin' that to get on his nerves."

I nodded and then went over to my bunk. I sat down on it and looked down at my hands. What was going to happen to me now? I looked back up when I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders.

"I know what you're thinkin' and I want you to stop right now," he told me. "You ain't going to die and you ain't going to let that idiot get to you, you understand me? You're goin' to go over there and do your job."

I nodded but didn't say anything. I couldn't help but feel afraid. Ever since Daniel had gotten there I had depended on him. Now that he wasn't going to be around I didn't know how I was going to make it.

"Look they might not even send you out on the front for a while. I'll probably be sent over soon anyway and they will probably put me in your squad," he said.

"You heard what our CO said, there is no sense in having two snipers in the same squad," I told him.

"Well a squad nearby," he said, "and there is no guarantee that James is going to be in your squad either."

I just nodded again and looked back down at my hands. I felt him squeeze my shoulder and then heard him say, "You'll be fine, you ain't going to die over there, so don't even worry about that."

I still didn't say anything and nodded once again. Daniel sighed and then climbed up onto his bunk. I didn't say anything because it wasn't dieing that I was worried about anymore. What I didn't like was that I was going to be separated from him, and it wasn't just because I needed him to protect me. It was because I just needed him and couldn't bear being separated from him.

I sighed and laid down on my bunk and continued to think over what was happening. Time seemed to be so slow and yet so fast at the same time. Before I knew it, it was time to turn in and my last day there was over. I continued to stare up at the bunk above me until I heard something drop down beside me and sit on my bunk. I looked over and sure enough it was Daniel.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm terrified," I told him. "Can that be classified as okay?"

"I guess it can. I mean James doesn' even look like it's botherin' him and we both know he's not right in the head, so that must mean you're alright.," he told me.

He was trying to make me laugh and it got the desired result. I started laughing hard and he laughed as well. It took us both a few moments to calm down. When we did Daniel got serous.

"Look you are goin' to be fine," he insisted. "You're smart and really good with that rifle, and I'm sure that if James does cause you problems you can get him to do somethin' stupid enough to get himself captured or somethin'."

I smiled up at Daniel and shook my head. "I never thought of that before. Thanks for the idea," I said.

"Oh really? I was thinkin' about doin' it the first second we got over there," he said.

I shook my head again and laughed. Daniel laughed as well and then he got serous.

"Hey look after this is all said and done with we should find each other and get together sometime," he said.

I looked at him for a moment before I nodded, then I sat up. It would be hard for him to look me up because Antony McNeal didn't exist. I sighed slightly, it was time to tell him who I really was. He needed to know and this might be the only chance I would get to actually tell him. Who knows what would happen over there?

"Daniel there is something important that I have to tell you before I leave," I told him.

He looked at me curiously. He could tell by the tone in my voice that this was something that was greatly important, and it was. "What is it Antony?" he asked me.

"Well it's kinda complicated and I'm afraid to tell you but I have to," I said.

"Go on," he said.

"Well my name," I started to say before an officer came into the barracks.

"Lights out all of you. If they aren't out in three seconds and completely quiet in here you're all on KP duty!" the officer said.

"Tell me tomorrow," Daniel said and then jumped back up onto his bunk. I sighed and only hoped that I would see him and get a chance to tell him tomorrow, I never did.

* * *

_A/N: Okay please forgive me for taking so long. I had trouble figuring out where I wanted this to go even after asking all of you. However now I finally got the general idea of what is going to happen in the upcoming chapters. Hopefully my creative spell will keep up and I'll get a few more out. This story is going to be a long one and I hope I haven't lost any of my readers. I am so sorry for taking so long. Please tell me how this one was and any ideas or tips are more than welcomed._


	8. Welcome to the Real Training

_A/N: Well I'm finally back with a new chapter! As some of you know I've had a burst of creativity the last few days and I've decided to use part of that to work on this story. I'm hoping to get a chapter up for all of my stories today and tomorrow. I hope you all like this new chapter; I know you've all waited a long time to get it._

* * *

**Present**

"Did James start causing problems for you then?" my daughter asks.

I shake my head. "Just briefly. It turns out when we were transferred over there we weren't going directly over to Europe. We were making a stop in England for our 'real training.'"

"Real training?"

"Well while basic was tough, command didn't believe we were prepared enough," I tell her with a smile. "When we got over there we soon found out that basic couldn't compare to this, the seriousness of it really it home."

"What about James though, with Daniel not there why wouldn't he bother you?" she asked, confusion playing on her face.

"Well one, we were so busy that he wouldn't have a chance even if he could have and two, because James had decided he liked the idea that the extra pay that jumping out of an airplane gave you. When they came around asking for volunteers he was one of the first to go for it. I didn't have him bother me anymore for a long while."

"So what happened?" she asked.

"As I said we stopped in England. Our training ground was a beach known as Slapton Sands."

* * *

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

The smell of salt that a beach gives off was heavy in the air. I could hear the sound of waves slapping against the beach, but this couldn't compare to the site of the actual sea. I had never seen the sea before that moment and I will admit that it was impressive. However, I didn't have long to enjoy the view.

"Get into formation!" my new commander bellowed to everyone. Hurriedly, I rushed to do what he commanded of us, and when we were finally all assembled his keen eye surveyed all of us. It made my stomach do flip-flops. My previous commander had been rather imposing but he didn't even come close to comparing to this new man. This wasn't a person I wanted to cross and I had a feeling that if Daniel had been there him and I would be crossing this man a lot, and facing the consequences.

"I am Captain Steel," he finally said, in a strong but calm voice that shook my very being. "I will be your new commander from now until our operation is over with. For some of you I will continue to be your commander even after the upcoming mission is done. I'm not a man to be trifled with. I expect the best from you men and I expect you to work hard between now and the day that we actually attack. This is not only because I want you to succeed in this mission but also because these exercises may be the only thing that will save your lives out there. I want these to be taken with up most seriousness. If you men thought basic were as hard as it could get, you have another thing coming. They will be unlike anything you have ever done before. Be prepared men to face the harshest conditions you will undergo next to the real thing. Now men go and get yourselves settled and be back here at 0900."

After being dismissed and hurried to my new home, a tent. I hurriedly put everything into order. After I was finished I realized I still had a little time left before I had to be back at the beach. This was the perfect time to sit down and write a letter to my family. They couldn't interfere now that I was over here and they needed to know what happened. So pen in hand I began to write.

_April 12, 1944_

_Dear Grandma, Dad, and Brother,_

_I know by now you are all very worried about me. I'm sorry for leaving but it was something that I had to do. It was a calling I had. I know you probably won't be able to understand why I did this but like I said I just had to do it. Everyone else was helping with the war and I needed to as well. I just had to do it differently that most women do. We both know that if I was a nurse I would be helping the other side instead of our own, so I had to do it this way. I promise that I'll keep safe and I'll see you sometime soon. I'll write often and I hope you do to._

_Love,_

_Alice_

I knew it was a bit risky to put my real name in the letter but even if someone did see it they wouldn't really know what to make of it. I didn't believe that anything would really happen to me. So I then set out to write a letter to Jessie.

_April 12, 1944_

_Dear Jessie,_

_Well I've finally been shipped overseas. I'm rather nervous about it. We are about to start training again and the CO said it would be far worse than basics. I hope he's bluffing but deep down I know he's not. Well anyway it's time to do what I need to do. Can you please send the other letter to my family and could you also write to them and finish telling them what's going on? I can't here because…well because of obvious reasons. Anyway, thank you and I hope to see you soon._

_Your friend,_

_Antony McNeal_

This time I signed with my assumed name to keep up with the charades. That way if anyone did read my letter they should have been very confused, and wouldn't catch on until it was far too late. With this thought in mind I put both letters in their envelope and sealed it. I looked down at my watch and saw that I still had time for one last letter. So once again I took up my pen and began to write.

_April 12, 1944_

_Dear Daniel Jackson,_

_Well I have just arrived in England. It turns out that we need further training here before we go anywhere else. They have decided to keep me for the "big invasion" that we all know is coming. The date of the invasion is still a secret but that isn't a surprise to anyone. Oh you should meet my new CO. His name is Captain Steel. Let's put it this way, I've only seen him once but his name fits his personality. This man is made of steel and demands respect. I don't plan on crossing him…course if you were here I have this strange feeling that I would be. You would probably be getting us into a boatload of trouble. Part of me kinda wouldn't mind that. I miss you._

_Oh another thing. I don't have to worry about James. Turns out he may have really have brain damage. The idiot decided to transfer to a paratrooper division. Can you imagine doing something as stupid as that? Oh well I'm not complaining. At least I don't have to worry about him._

_Anyway back to Steel. He said that our training here would be a lot worse than basic. I believe him to. This isn't a guy who I would be foolish enough not to believe. I just wonder what we are going to end up going through. I will soon be finding out though. At 0900 I got to go to my first training here. In fact, I got to go now. I'm sorry to cut this letter short. I hope I'll see you soon._

_Your Friend and Partner in Crime,_

_Antony McNeal_

As I finished I noticed one major thing. Strangely enough my letter to Daniel had been far longer than the one to my family or to Jessie. A shiver went down my spine. What on earth could that mean? I shook my head, clearing them of those kinds of thoughts. I didn't have time to think about them now and I didn't really want to think about them later. Finally I put the letter in its envelope and sealed it as well. I grabbed the other one and then left my tent. I quickly got the letters mailed and then made my way back over to the beach.

There were still a few more minutes to go and the other men were just milling around. Then Captain Steel came and got everyone in formation once again.

"Okay men today you will start your first bout of training," he began to say. "You will all be doing mock landings. This is to give you an idea of what to expect while storming the beaches. You'll be working with other men who have previously done this, so follow their leads. I want everyone to take this with the utmost seriousness; if you don't you will answer to me. Understand? "

"Sir, yes sir!" echoed all around from the other men and came from my own mouth as well. Then we got down to business.

We loaded our gear onto our backs and had our rifles in our hands as we were boarded onto the landing crafts. It was a tight fit. I was stuck in between several men and couldn't move. It was so backed full that you couldn't sit down even if you tried. The added weight of my gear made it even more difficult.

Fortunately, being stuck in there didn't last long and we rushed off the landing craft. The instant I was off of it my face it the warm sand and I made for cover. While it was a mock invasion it was still serous. We made our way up the beach slowly and soon took over the makeshift bunkers.

We all knew that it wouldn't be this easy but the real thing would be ten times worse. Right now this only gave us an idea of what to expect, our imaginations did the rest. My imagination was in overdrive as I went through these exercises. I could almost swear I could hear bombs blowing up around me, people screaming, and bodies being blown apart. However, I still knew that even my imagination couldn't amount to the real thing.

Needless to say, when we were finally done for the day my sleeping bag on the cold hard ground was more than welcoming. The second my head laid down I fell asleep, but it seemed that I had no sooner laid down my head before I was woken again and forced to get up. We had to get a quick breakfast before we were once again in those landing crafts, then charging up Slapton Sands.

If things kept up like this much more I didn't think I could keep up. I mean strong men who were around me were having trouble keeping up with the brutal pace that the commander pushed us, so how the heck was I supposed to keep up? To add to my frustration I hadn't been able to bathe. Being in this close of quarters with men meant there was too great of a chance for me to be caught. Luckily after about a week of all of this I was able to get a quick shower to wash away the sweat, sand, and sea water that was all over my battered and dog tired body.

If we weren't doing mock storming of the beaches we were pretending to take over towns. Nearby villages had been cleared out so we could use these as practices. In a way this was better than storming the beach of Slapton Sands but in a way it wasn't. At least with the beach we had some water. However, with these we didn't. Course we didn't have the sand either, so that was a plus. It was on one of these mock runs that I met my second friend in this war.

I was crouched in a house looking out of its door and to the left. As I was doing this someone was trying to get into the door from the right. He hadn't seen me because only my Springfield was poking out of the door a little. This caused him to run into the door and run smack into me. We both toppled to the floor with a crash. I couldn't breathe because he had landed right on top of me and while he wasn't a big man, he was still a lot bigger than I was.

"Get…off!" I managed to breathe out when the shock wore off.

He scrambled to get off of me and stood quickly. My lungs took a healthy breath of air in relief, and after I had gotten some oxygen back into my brain, I took his offered hand and stood up.

"I am so so sorry," he kept saying over and over.

I shook my head and laughed a little. "Don't be. It is just as much my fault as it was yours," I told him. "We both weren't paying attention."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

I smiled and reached down to pick up his helmet that had fallen off during out little trip and then handed it to him. I couldn't help but notice the red cross painted on it that signified he was a medic. My eyebrow quirked up in amusement.

"You're a medic?" I asked him curiously.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"That's not a job I'd be able to handle," I told him.

He just shrugged and smiled slightly. "I'm a doctor back home. When I was drafted it just seemed like a natural choice."

"That makes since," I said, while nodding.

"Well I'm a healer. I couldn't take someone's life."

These words hung over us like a deathly cloud for a few moments. The seriousness of what was going to happen was felt by both of us. We both knew we would soon have a job to do. Mine would be to kill any opposing force that got in the way, or threatened my life, or the life of the people around me. His would be to heal the people who were caught in the crossfire between our side and the Axis. He also knew he would be taking care of not only our side but theirs as well. It was very possible that he would end up helping a person who had been shooting at him or even a person who had killed a friend of his. I was quite sure that thought sickened both of us.

Finally I had enough and had to break that imposing silence. I stuck my hand out and said, "I'm Antony McNeal."

He smiled slightly and then shook my hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Irwin Wade."

* * *

_A/N: Alrighty, this chapter is done! I will have to admit I really enjoyed finally having the idea to write it. Now everything is kind of in a straight path for now, so there shouldn't be any setbacks…well except for maybe my college homework. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for all sticking by me even though I've been slow. I can't wait to read your responses._


	9. You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!

_A/N: And I am on a roll! Two chapters in a week! It feels good to be writing again! Okay well here is your new chapter. I hope ya'll like it!_

* * *

**Present**

"So what happened after that?" Eleanor asks me.

"After that we kept bumping in to one another," I tell Eleanor and then quickly add, "Not literally of course." Eleanor laughs slightly and I smile as well. "Anyway we soon became friends. We weren't in the same company but we still managed to hang out when we weren't running drills. He didn't get into trouble like Daniel did; in fact he was one of the guys who obeyed the rules. Irwin was a little bit reserved but overall he was a good guy."

"So did anything happen while you were around him?"

I nodded and smiled slightly. "Yes there were a few things. Nothing as dramatic as it was with Daniel, but it was still interesting. The second time we ended up meeting one another was quite interesting."

"What happened then?" she asks.

"Well let me tell you."

* * *

**Sixteen Years **

My stomach did flip-flops as I looked at the man in front of me. He was at least over six feet tall and he was built big. My eyes finally looked at his face, I found myself having to look up because the man towered over me. I could not remember a moment in my life where I had ever felt this short before. Yes, I wasn't tall, not by a long shot, but this was ridiculous. I felt like a little kid standing next to this man, if you can call him that. I would have chosen a different word, maybe something like, tank.

Now if it had just been the fact that there was this huge man standing in front of me, I wouldn't have been that worried. However, the real problem was that I had to do hand to hand combat with this monster. I already knew that I was more than dead, and other people watching shared this opinion. None of them were really laughing but they were watching. I was the smallest person they had seen so far in their ranks. They wanted to see what would happen to me. However, even though we all knew what would happen, I still had to go against him. It was just plain cruel.

I looked upwards, almost as if I was trying to figure out who the person with the horrible sense of humor was. Then I looked back at the man in front of me. I sent a silent prayer to God, hoping he would make sure I didn't die, well at least not at the hands of a person who was supposed to be my ally.

"Okay there are no rules here," I heard the man in charge of this "training" say. "If you are up against a German they aren't going to fight with rules, so don't fight with them here. Okay go!"

I didn't move, I couldn't move. I was quite sure I had the "deer in the headlights" look. The other man was coming towards me. Once he got close enough my brain finally kicked into gear, and so did my legs. I had just managed to move out of the way, before he had the chance to make my glasses a permanent fixture on my face. I also noticed that him meeting nothing but air put him off balance a little.

That gave me an idea; you could almost see the light bulb turning on above my head. I thought that maybe, just maybe if I was quick enough I could use his weight against him. If he kept missing he was bound to get tired eventually. Also with him being off balance I could get a few hits in myself. I didn't expect that my kicks or punches would do much to him, but it would at least make it look like I was trying to fight him and not just running around like a scared chicken. The fact that I _was_ a scared chicken didn't matter.

So when he faced me and then came after me I was ready. Once again I ducked under his arm and swung around to the left to try to kick him in the back of his knees. I hoped that the force might drop him. However, I wasn't prepared for it to drop me. When my leg connected with the back of his, it felt like I had just tried to kick a wall and not just any kind of wall, a sturdy, rock hard cement wall. Pain from my leg screamed up at me and when I tried to stand on it I almost fell over.

"What the hell are you made of, brick?" I blurted out. This was my mistake because even though my little stunt had hurt me a lot, it had little if no effect on him and I had used up all the time it had bought me. I had pissed him off and I knew it when he swung his fist at me again. It connected with my nose and then a loud sickening crunch rang out. Now, both my leg and nose was screaming at me in pain. I also felt blood dripping down my face. I instinctively reached for it but stopped when he hit me hard in my stomach. I doubled over and the wind was knocked out of me. It only got worse when I felt his fist once again collide with my face. My glasses were knocked to the ground, and I almost joined them. That was when my survival instinct kicked in. I stood up as straight as I could and when he came near me I did what any girl would do, I lifted my knee. I knew I had hit my mark as soon as he backed away from me. Even without my glasses I could tell he was in a lot of pain. I stood there for a second, not sure what to do. Luckily, I didn't have to do anything. The man in charge stepped in between us and ended it.

"Alright, that's enough," he said. "You two both did a good job. McNeal, go get yourself fixed up."

I nodded and reached down to pick up my glasses. The frame was ruined but the lenses were still alright. If I could find a pair of glasses similar to them I could just fit the lenses right in. I then limped my way over to one of the medical tent. When I entered a person immediately rushed over to me.

"Gosh, what the hell happened to you?" I realized it was Irwin who was talking to me.

"Hand to hand combat training," I said. My words sounded a little funny because of my broken nose, so I didn't say much more.

"Oh right, come with me." I limped after him. He noticed that I was having a little trouble walking and stopped to help me. He had me sit down on a chair and then walked away for a few moments. I couldn't see where he went to, because of my glasses, but I had a feeling it was to get supplies. He was back in just a few moments.

"It looks like your nose is broken. I'll have to try to get it set the best I can, but I have to stop the bleeding first," he told me. I just nodded my consent. He put a piece of cloth to my nose and I whimpered slightly. Even just that little bit of pressure hurt, but I didn't jerk away. "Okay hold that for me while I check the rest of you out," he said. I did as he asked and he began to check out my leg. Irwin rolled the pants leg up and I could hear him whistle slightly.

"What?" I asked him.

"That's some bruise you have here. It's almost black," he told me. This caused me to wince slightly. "I'm just going to check to see if it isn't broken or anything." His fingers touched it gently. This time I did jerk slightly but he didn't pay any attention to me. It only took him a moment to check it out but they were very painful moments. "Okay it isn't broken, just bruised really bad. I'd like to know how you got that one."

"All in good time doc," I told him. "First get the inspection over with."

He chuckled slightly and then said, "Alright, turn your head to the right. Let me have a look at your face."

I complied quickly and he touched that bruise as well. "What's with you and touching?" I asked him as I tried not to jerk away. "It's a little obvious that it's a bruise."

"I'm just trying to make sure nothing is broken there. It doesn't happen a lot but it can happen," he told me and then stopped his inspection. "It's just a bruise but it will need a bit of ice, so will your leg. You are going to have them for a while. Now let's see if the bleeding stopped."

I moved my hands away from my face, the bleeding had stopped. "Okay I'm going to try to get this into place as much as possible," he told me in a serious tone. "You have to hold still. Okay?"

"Alright," I said with a sigh.

He nodded and then touched my nose gently. Then he began to straighten out my shattered nose. My eyes began to water, course I was probably crying. I also gritted my teeth and tried to not jerk away. Luckily it didn't take him long and then he put the bandage over it to keep it from moving.

When he was finished he walked away and came back with two bags of ice. Took them from him and placed one on my head and the other on my leg. "Has your nose been broken before?" he asked me when I was situated.

I looked up at him a little surprised. He had a thoughtful look on his face and was clearly observing me. "Yes," I said cautiously. "Why?"

"I was just wondering. Your nose was very easy to move," he told me.

"Yours would be to if you had just been punched by that man that I just gone up against," I told him. "He was over 6 feet tall and built like a brick. I've never been punched that hard before in my life, and I have been a few times."

Irwin folded his arms in front of him and one of his eyebrows went up. Clearly he wanted me to elaborate but he wasn't going to ask.

I sighed and said, "Back at basic a few people weren't fond of me. I was their punching bag for a while." I was hoping he wouldn't ask me anymore about it and luckily he didn't.

"So what happened today?" he asked me.

I sighed in relief slightly and then said, "Well like I told you, we had hand to hand training today. I've had it before but this was insane. Someone thought it would be funny to pair me up with the biggest guy in the Army."

Both of Irwin's eyebrows went up and he asked, "What do you mean the biggest guy in the Army?"

At the same time he had asked this that same man hobbled into the medical tent. You could hear him asking for ice and he was holding his crotch. "Um him," I said and pointed in his direction.

His eyes looked in the direction that I pointed and then they went wide. Irwin looked back and forth between me and the other man and then he looked at me again. "You are kidding me!" he exclaimed.

I shook my head and then Irwin said, "My God! How did you get out of that?"

"Well, I uh kinda kneed him in the groin," I told him embarrassed.

"I would hide for a few days if I were you," he told me.

"Oh don't worry," I said. "I have no intention of seeing him ever again."

"Good plan," he said and then shook his head. "I can't believe they put you against him. I mean look at you." He looked at me and then quickly added, "No offence."

"None taken doc," I told him and then laughed slightly. "I know my physical abilities, or lack of, all too well. I'm just glad that I won't have to worry about physical contact too much while I'm over there. I'll probably be up in some tree or tower or something, if I have to do anything, or well I will be if I can get my glasses fixed."

"Yeah I was wondering what happened to them," he said.

"They are right here, or what is left of them anyway." I lifted my glasses up and showed them to him. They were in bad shape.

"The lenses are still there," he stated as he took them in his hands. "Maybe if you talk to the supplies sergeant you might be able to get a new pair soon."

"I hope so," I told him. "I'm not much good without them. I can't see very far at all and well it's kind of necessary to be able to see when you are a sniper."

"That is a problem," Irwin said. "Hey how 'bout I take you over there and see if we can get you a new pair?"

I thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "Alright, might as well get it over with." I then stood up and followed him out of the tent. It was slow going because my leg still hurt but it was alright. As we walked I tried to think of a way to start a conversation with him.

"So um doc, why did you become a doctor? I mean you told me why you became a medic, but why were you a doctor in the first place?" I asked him.

I looked at him; he looked like he was thinking about it. He finally said, "Well my mom was a nurse and my dad was a doctor, so it just kind of happened I guess. I've always been around it and I like helping people. It just seemed like the obvious thing to do."

I nodded as I listened to him. "Makes since."

"What about you Antony…that's right isn't it?" Irwin asked me and I nodded. "Right, Antony. What do you do? I'm sure you aren't a sniper for a living."

I smiled and shook my head. "No I'm not. I'm actually nothing yet. I just got out of college before I joined the army. I was planning on becoming a teacher, but I love to write. I was hoping to become a writer while I was teaching."

"So are you like going to be an English teacher or something?" he asked me.

"No, I uh actually can't," I told him. I was starting to get flustered slightly. This was getting too close to home.

"Why not?" he asked me curiously.

"Look here we are," I told him when I saw the supplies depot, successfully avoiding his question. I went inside without saying anything further and luckily he didn't press the issue. We walked over to the sergeant. He was busy but when he looked up he smiled slightly.

"How can I help you two?" he asked.

I put my glasses on his desk and asked, "Can you get me a new pair? Mine are a little past wearable."

He looked at my mangled glasses and then at my face. "Um, sure," he said. "I believe I can get you a pair that will fit these lenses. It will take a few days, maybe a week. You're lucky that we have the lenses though. If you didn't it would take a lot longer. Who is this for?"

"Private McNeal, Antony," I told him. He wrote what I believed was my name on a paper and took the glasses.

"Okay you will be informed when they come in."

I nodded and then left, Irwin followed me out and said, "It's good that they can get you a pair in a few days. You got lucky that the lenses didn't break."

I looked at him and said, "Yeah lucky is an understatement. If those lenses ended up broke I'd be without glasses for better than a month."

He looked at me confused. "Why? It doesn't take them that long to be made."

"They are specially made," I told him. "My eyesight is so bad that they had to be specially made. It took almost a whole month to get them and cost my family a small fortune."

"Oh wow," he said softly.

"Yeah wow is right," I told him.

"How bad are they?"

"Well let's see, walk away from me and I'll tell you when your face gets blurry."

He started to walk away from me and when he got about three yards away from me I could barely see his face. "Right there doc?" I called out to him.

He walked back up to me and said, "I can see why they cost so much. You're practically blind."

"Nah, I can still read and write and do stuff like that," I told him and then paused, "But I can't shoot. I'd probably miss the target all together if I did. I just hope I don't have to practice for a while but I know I'm not going to be that lucky."

"What are you going to do if you have to?" he asked.

I looked at him and thought about it for a moment. Then I smiled as my thoughts drifted to my partner in crime back in the States. The words that left my mouth were something that I knew he would be telling me if he was here. "Pray."

* * *

_A/N: Okay, I need help people! I have no idea if I'm being true to Wade's character or not. If I'm not I need you guys to help me because I'm not sure how to get his character down. Also tell me if you liked or didn't like this chapter. I hope you all did but alas I cannot be perfect all the time lol I hoped you liked it though. It was a filler to develop the relationship between my character and Wade…and to kill time between now and the actual invasion…but gosh it was a long filler wasn't it? Expect another chapter soon!_


	10. Nice to Know You

_A/N: Thank you to all of the people who have replied. I really appreciate it and it lets me know that I haven't lost my touch yet. Lol Here is another chapter. I hope you like it._

* * *

**Present**

My daughter looks at me like she is half horrified that there was ever a time where I was without my glasses. She knows how bad my eyesight is without them, but she also knows how good they are if I have them on; I can see a blood drop the size of a pen head when tracking a deer.

"What happened? I mean you not having your glasses on isn't something that I would ever consider a good idea," she says.

I smile slightly before I say, "It was rough for a few weeks. People would have to walk into a two and a half radius from me before I could see them clearly. The only good thing is I was good at figuring out who a person was by their body shape and the color of their hair and stuff like that, which is why I was able to tell when the guy I fought came into the tent. He was the biggest man in the place, so it was a bit obvious."

"Alright, I know that something had to have happened during that time. I mean there is no way you could shoot, so what happened?"

I smile even more. "Well a few days later I was supposed to practice with my sniper rifle…"

* * *

**Sixteen Years Ago**

I looked at the captain the best I could; more or less you could say I was squinting. I was also wishing I could cover my ears.

"What do you mean you can't shoot Private?" he practically bellowed at me. "You are a sniper and from what I've heard and seen, you are a damn good one, so what is the problem?"

"Sir, I am a good sniper but the problem is that's only if I have my glasses," I tried to explain to him, while not having a heart attack. "See my glasses kind of got crushed the other day during hand to hand combat training. I can't see without my glasses. It would not be a good idea to have me shooting at anything right now Sir."

From what I could see, and it wasn't much, it looked like the captain was thinking over what I had just said. However, he was really just counting to ten before he blew up.

"Your eyesight can't be that bad Private!" he practically bellowed at me. "If it was you'd never even be able to make it as a sniper. No pair of glasses would correct that! Now take your rifle and get up there and shoot! Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," I told him. I was actually cringing inside. This was going to be very bad. Part of me wondered if I did a bad job if they wouldn't let me be a sniper anymore. It was too late now though, I had to shoot and there was nothing I could do about it.

I sighed and grabbed my Springfield, loaded it, and then I got ready to fire. I couldn't see worth a damn. All I could see was where my target was and even that was fuzzy. All I could do was try to aim at what my eyes were telling me was the middle of the target and pray that it would work. I steadied myself and then lightly squeezed the trigger. I couldn't see if I hit anything or not, so I lowered my rifle and looked at the captain. He looked like someone had just smacked him.

"Did I hit anything?" I asked before I could contain myself.

He looked at me and then asked, "You really can't see can you?"

"No sir."

"Have you ordered a new pair?" he asked me.

"Yes sir, three days ago," I told him.

"I'll speak to the supplies sergeant about rushing to get them for you, and in the meantime I don't want you shooting at anything. Is that understood Private?"

"Yes sir."

"Well go," he told me. "The next thing you have is practice runs on the beaches, so go get ready."

I saluted him and then left quickly. I knew I had a little time before the practice runs, so I was heading to my tent to relax and maybe write a letter or two, but first I was making a stop to see if any letters had come in for me.

"Any letters for Private McNeal, Antony?" I asked when I got there.

"Let me check," said a man. From the voice I knew it was the regular person who was there that I usually talked to. He looked at me and said, "You have two letters. Here they are."

I took them and said thanks to the man. Then I hurried back to my tent. When I got in there I checked to see who they were from. One was from Daniel, and the other was from Jessie. From the size of hers I guessed one was from my family as well. I decided to open Daniel's first. I squinted slightly as I tried to read it. I had never realized his handwriting was this bad before. I had a feeling that even if I did have my glasses, I would have trouble reading it. While I could read without my glasses, it wasn't perfect. It was blurred enough to make things slightly fuzzy and his handwriting didn't help, so I set out the task of reading his letter.

_April 17, 1944_

_Antony,_

_It's great to hear from you. It's been really boring here since I don't have you to talk to and James isn't here to drive up the wall. Now the only person left is the CO and well bothering him ain't the smartest thing to do, you know?_

_I'm glad you don't have to worry about James anymore. He is insane if he decided to go and jump out of an airplane, but that just means it will be even more unlikely that we ever have to deal with him again._

_I don't know if it would be a good idea for me to be in your company when I go over there. Granted, I would like to be in your company but if I ended up in there I think we would be both skinned alive. Your CO sounds like he wouldn't put up with us._

_Was the training over there as bad as he said it would be? I can't imagine it being that bad, but you never know. I can be wrong, I hope I'm not. I think we will both end up dead if it is…and it makes me wonder if you'll still be alive by the time this letter gets to you. Oh another thing, the CO keeps talking about getting us ready to go over there, so I imagine we will be over there soon. So maybe by the time you get this I might be over there and I'll be talking to you. Well I have to go, bye._

_Daniel_

His letter left a nice feeling inside of me. It meant that maybe he would be over here soon. I liked that idea. I almost started on a letter back to him but I remembered the other letters I got. I opened the envelope and began to read the letter from Jessie.

_April 20, 1944_

_Antony McNeal,_

_It's good to hear from you and know that you are alright. I hope that your training won't be that bad. I am sure you will be able to handle it though. You are strong; even some guys aren't this strong._

_I've sent the letter to your family and have just received one back from them. I didn't look at it but I have a feeling they aren't happy about your decision. Good luck though, and keep safe!_

_Jessie Taylor_

I let out a sigh, now was the time to face the music. I put Jessie's letter a side and picked up the one from my family. My grandmother's neat handwriting looked up at me and I began to read it.

_April 16, 1944_

_Alice,_

_I can't believe you did this to us. You are a young lady, not some boy. You have never been this impulsive before, so why have you started now?_

_I'm sorry I had to put the paper down and walk away for a moment to calm myself. I guess I can understand your desire to help out and I can also understand why you didn't try to be a nurse. However, I still can't believe you would take this big of a risk. Do you know what will happen to you if you are caught? What if you are behind enemy lines and a German finds out that you are a woman? Do you think that they won't try anything? Even our own American boys might try something if they are desperate enough._

_It is so risky for you to do this and I wish you would just come home, but I know you won't. My prayers are with you and I hope everything will be alright. Just be safe and don't let anyone find out. Come back to us._

_I haven't told your father or brother about this. All they know is that you've gone off to help in another school. If your father knew I know he would go looking for you and that would cause more harm than good. Also if your brother found out he would get this crazy idea in his head to join up. You already know how much he wants to already, but he's only 16. He's too young to join something like that._

_Anyway like I said be safe and know that I love you,_

_Your Grandmother_

That letter just about killed me. She had brought all my fears and worries back to the surface when I had tried so hard to push them away. For once I began to have doubts but then I thought about all that had happened and why I was here. I had not gotten the hell beaten out of me for nothing. I was going to stick with this for as long as I could.

I was about to start writing when I heard someone knocking on my tent.

"Antony, are you in there?" I heard Wade's voice call.

"Eh, yeah," I called out to him as I hurried to put the letters in a place where they couldn't be found.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," I said as I finally hid them and turned around to face him.

"I was just coming to see how those injuries were coming along," he told me and stepped into my tent.

"So you make house calls?" I asked with a smirk.

He smiled slightly and said, "Sometimes."

"So doc what do you want me to do?"

"Have a seat so I can have a look."

I did as he asked and waited. He stepped towards me and looked at the bruise on my eye. It had faded but it still looked nasty. After he looked at that he looked at my leg. It was bad to but it was also fading.

"They are healing well," he told me. "I'm not going to bother with your nose because that's going to take a little while to heal."

"Alright thank you doc," I told him. "But can I ask you a favor?"

He looked at me as if he was slightly curious and slightly wary. "What is it?" he asked cautiously.

"Tell me the real reason why you are here," I told him. "It doesn't take a genius, or a doctor, to know that bruises will heal and it really doesn't take one to know that it's going to take a while for a broken nose to heal, especially if the person who has the broken nose is a veteran for having them."

He folded his arms in front of him defensively and didn't say anything for a moment. "If you must know it's because I needed something to do," he told me. "I can't stand it when I am not doing something."

I smirked and said, "Don't let any officer hear you say that. They might think that they aren't pushing us hard enough and then you may be the one needing a medic, doc."

He laughed and shook his head. I laughed along with him and then it suddenly hit me. I had only been around this guy a few times but really he wasn't half bad. I could actually see myself becoming friends with him.

"You've told me what you do for a living but where do you come from? If you don't mind me asking, of course," I asked him after the laughing had calmed down.

He looked at me a moment as if he was deciding to trust me before he spoke. "San Diego, California. What about you?"

"Well I don't exactly live in a city or town, but I do live near a small town in Montana," I told him.

An uncomfortable silence came over us as each one tried to figure out what to say next. Finally I realized I would have to do some more talking here.

"I live out in the country," I told him. "My home is back in the middle of the woods. It's quiet there, not a lot of people are around. It's was hard to live in a dorm when I went to college because I'm not used to being around so many people, but it's much worse here. Here there is no such thing as privacy."

He smiled slightly and nodded. "I know what you mean," he said. "It makes me a little uncomfortable because everything you do here is everyone's business. At least one other person knows about what you've done. What else is it like where you live?"

"Well like I said it's kind of secluded. The only school around is quite a way from my home. On top of that the only store around is a long drive away," I began to tell him. "We would only go in about once every two weeks getting what little extras we needed. Other than that my family mostly lived off of what we had at home. We grew our own food or hunted. My father taught me to shoot when I was 9. This is part of the reason why I'm so good at shooting now, granted he's a better shot than I am. I've caused him a lot of stress." I laughed and shook my head at this thought. A lot would be an understatement but I couldn't tell Irwin all that had happened.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a smile.

I smiled and said, "Well when I first went to school I wasn't doing so well. I couldn't see the board and at first the teachers just assumed I didn't know how to read. When they talked to my grandma, she about had a fit because she had taught me to read a long time before I ever even went to go to school. She handed me a book and had me read it in front of the teachers. It was rather advanced for my age, so the teachers knew for sure that it wasn't because I didn't know how to read. The school had someone come and examine my eyes. When they told my dad that I needed glasses, he was less than pleased. He was furious when they told him how much they would cost. My grandma talked him into getting them but it was rough for a while because they were so expensive. When I wanted to go to college I about gave him a heart attack. I was just lucky that I had gotten a scholarship. If I hadn't there was no way I could have gone."

"You were a costly child weren't you?" Irwin asked amused.

"Yeah, unfortunately but I couldn't help it. I mean it's not like I asked to have glasses permanently stuck to my face," I said while nodding.

"You did ask to go to college though," he pointed out.

"True but I had scholarships, and I wanted more from my life than what was being offered to me there. Yes I love the location where I live at but it's very behind with the times. I want more for myself than that."

"I can understand that," he said, "but you said you had wanted to become a teacher, why? There isn't much there for people."

I looked at him; it was a good question, one that I hadn't asked before. I thought for a moment before I spoke. "You know I've never asked myself that before, but I do see your point. I guess now that I think about it, even though I wanted more for myself I had decided that meant I wanted to do something for myself on the inside. See not a lot of kids where I come from get very far and part of that is because no one thinks they can make it far. I want to be at least one person who believes that they can and help them believe that they can to. I just want to help them I guess."

"I guess that makes some since," he said. "Did you get a chance to teach before you came over here?"

I shook my head. "No I didn't," I told him. "Thinks kind of happened fast. I graduated from college, came home, tried to find a job and then Pearl Harbor happened. I didn't have time to look for a job I was too busy with my family and deciding what to do."

Wade, who seemed to be a little more comfortable around me now, responded quickly. "I understand what you mean. I was only in practice a year before I was drafted."

I shook my head once again. This war seemed to screw up everyone's life. Then I wondered how much it would screw up my own. If I was to get caught…I shook my head again. I wasn't going to let myself think about that, I was going to go over there and do what needed to be done. That thought triggered a memory. I had to be out on the beach for practice runs. I looked at my watch. I had about ten minutes to get my but down there.

"Aww hell!" I cursed.

"What?" he asked surprised at my sudden outburst.

"I've got practice runs down at the beach in ten minutes!" I told him as I grabbed my gear and began to put it on. As I did it started to rain. "Aw, you got to be kidding me!"

"Good luck," he told me as he began to leave.

"What you don't have them?" I asked him.

"No, my company already got them in earlier today."

"Lucky duck," I said just as I finished getting everything on. It had to be the quickest I had ever done it. "Well I'll see you later…well that's if my CO doesn't kill me first."

He laughed slightly and shook his head. "Yeah I'll see you later, and good luck," he told me again. Then I took off running to the beach.

* * *

_A/N: Once again, I hope you liked the chapter. Um, I hope Wade was in character once again. I'm still having trouble putting my finger on him. I'll have to watch the movie if I get the chance. Okay, I do have one question. Do you want one more chapter with Wade and my character's relationship developing, or do you want Daniel to come into the next chapter? I'm trying to decide which one, but you guys have to let me know._


	11. And They Meet

_A/N: Okay, my fine readers, here is another chapter. I hope you like it._

* * *

**Present**

"You became friends?" Eleanor asks me.

"As I said before my relationship with Irwin progressed quickly in that short period of time," I tell her. "After that meeting in my tent we became good friends. At first he continued to use my injuries to see me but after a few days he stopped. We had a routine going for a week; he'd stop by my tent when he wasn't busy or I'd go over to the medical tent and help him out when I had nothing to do."

"Didn't he know other people there?"

"Oh sure, it's not like he was around me all the time or anything, but I think he noticed that I didn't know anyone else there. See Irwin was the kind of person to reach out to people who seem to be rejected by most people. He was a good guy with a kind heart," I say. "He was also around me because he could tell that I was someone he could trust. See with him, he would reach out to someone but wouldn't really let anyone in."

My daughter's eyebrow goes up. "So he let you in?" she asks.

"In a way, I actually should say because he trusted me, he would open up to me a little."

She looks at me thoughtfully for a moment before she asks, "Did him and Daniel ever meet?"

I smile and nod. "Yes they met alright. They became friends as well, but it was interesting at first"

* * *

**Sixteen Years Ago**

Irwin and I were walking back to our tents with all of our gear on; we were just getting back from a practice run on the beach.

"How long do you think it will be until we are over there?" he asked me. I shifted my rifle in my arm before I looked at him.

I shrugged the best I could and said, "I dunno. Could be tomorrow, could be next week, hell knowing our luck it could be a year from now."

He looked at me and shook his head slightly.

"What?" I ask him.

"You," he says.

I frown slightly and then ask, "What about me?"

"You have to be one of the biggest pessimists I know," he says.

That made me smirk. "Oh really? So when do you think they will send us over there?"

He shrugged as well. "I'm not sure, but the longer we are over here the more time we have to prepare and the more time we have to prepare the less people who will be killed."

"Hmmm, well personally while I do believe the training will help, I don't think any amount of training will completely prepare us for what is going to happen there."

This caused him to frown slightly and say, "There you go again."

"Irwin, I'm not being a pessimist. I'm stating facts," I tell him. "And here is another fact; I'm getting tired of eating sand every day for lunch, and hauling my gear up this beach."

Irwin's frown disappeared and he started to smile. "What, sand not a usual part of your diet?" he teased.

"No, defiantly not," I said smiling as well. "If I never see another piece of sand after this is all over with it'll be too soon. This beach has lost its allure and now all I want to do is get the hell off of it."

"Well personally I feel you will get your wish soon," he said. "I mean it's not hard to see that the CO's are on edge. Something's going to happen, and it will be soon."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Granted I just hope it happens after I get my glasses. If I go over there without them, I'm as good as dead."

"It shouldn't take much longer to get them."

"I hope you're right," I said "I'm so sick and tired of not being able to see." Then added with a grin, "Granted I'm glad that I haven't been able to see what I've been eating."

He started to laugh and said, "Are you sure? I would think that if you could see something you wouldn't eat it. If you can't, does that mean that you have been eating it?" He got serous for a moment and looked at me. "Am I going to have to check you for food poisoning?"

That caused both of us to laugh. It was actually funny in a depressing sort of way. The food here wasn't the best, granted the food that I have eaten since I had been in the army had always been lacking one thing, flavor.

"No, no, I think I will be alright. However, if I start getting sick you may want to check," I said him, still with a grin plastered to my face.

"I'll keep that in mind," he told me and we arrived at his tent. "Okay, I meet you over at your tent after I'm finished getting this stuff off. I think your nose is pretty much healed and if it is, I want to get that bandage off of it."

"K doc," I said and headed off towards my own tent. Making my way around the people and tents in front of me was a little challenging, it had been since I had smashed my glasses. I had gotten better at it though and I had just reached my tent when I heard a familiar voice.

"Antony, over here!"

My eyes went wide; I would know that voice anywhere. I looked around with absolutely no luck. There was no way I was going to see anyone who wasn't in my 2 and a half feet radius.

"Hey over here!" I heard again. This time I looked to my left and saw Daniel's blurred figure.

"Bout time you were sent over here," I told him as I squinted up at him to see him better. I had to hold myself back from giving him a hug. Even though James wasn't there, it still would have been way too awkward.

"Yea', got word of it yesterday. They shipped all of us over here."

"All of you?" I asked him incredulously. "Okay, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what that means."

"Ya the invasion will be soon."

We both went quiet for a moment. Even though I said things to Irwin about wanting to get off this beach, a part of me, a very big part of me was terrified of the idea.

Daniel was the one who broke the silence. "What happened to your glasses and your face?" he asked. Even though I couldn't see his face, I still could feel his eyes on me.

I smiled slightly and said, "Well that one is a bit of a story."

"You gonna tell me?"

"Yeah, step into my tent and let me get out of this gear first."

"After you," he said. I could tell he was smiling.

I just smiled back and went into my tent. "Well ain't this roomy?" Sarcasm was clearly oozing from his words.

I was taking off my gear as I chuckled. "Glad you like it. The army will supply you with one exactly like it."

"Fantastic."

I looked at his direction, still not seeing his face clearly, and then grinned. "Hey, would you rather sleep outside with nothing over top of you? Think about what you say, I know from experience that it hardly ever stops raining here."

"Great, it ain't going to be a picnic here is it?"

My grin disappeared a little but I was still smiling. "No it isn't," I told him. "My CO was far from joking when he said this was going to be worse here."

"Speaking of which, how did you get your nose broken? There another James here or somethin'?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, nothing like that. This is from hand to hand combat training," I told him and then shook my head while laughing. "Somebody thought it was a good idea to pair me with the person who had to be the biggest guy on this whole beach."

"You are kidding me," he said.

"No I ain't. I wish I was. I'm getting really tired of not being able to see."

Curiosity seemed had gotten a hold of him. "How bad is your eyesight? I meant I know you've always worn the glasses but I've never known how bad it is."

"Bad enough that my CO banned me from practicing with my rifle," I told him.

"Wow, you're joking," he said again.

I shook my head. "I don't even know if I hit the target when he asked me to shoot the last time."

"Wow." It was clearly unbelievable to him. He knew how well I could shoot, so it was a little hard to imagine me not being able to shoot. "Ya know something?" he finally asked once he had processed the previous information.

"What?"

"Well, you are gonna have to be very careful with the new glasses. If they break when you are over there you are going to be in a lot of trouble."

This was something I had thought over and I knew he was right. I just had to hope nothing happened to them. "You're right Daniel. Let's just hope nothing happens to them."

I saw him shake his head. "Hopping don't do much. You need to pray about it."

I grinned slightly. "Oh don't worry about that," I told him. "I already did that when they first broke."

I could almost swear I saw him grinning but I didn't have a chance to say anything.

"Antony are you in there…oh I'm sorry I didn't know you had someone here." It was Irwin coming to check on my nose. I was a little surprised because I hadn't seen him become flustered before. "If it's a bad time, I'll come back later."

It clicked then. He just didn't want to intrude. It made me smile slightly; he was really a nice guy. "No don't worry about it doc, you aren't intruding on anything. Besides I want to get this bandage off already. It's starting to get annoying."

He still hesitated a moment before asking, "Are you sure you want me to with him here?"

Another thing clicked in my head. Either he had the doctor patience confidentiality issue in his head, or he really didn't trust Daniel. I suspected it could be the first but it was probably mostly the second one.

I just smiled and shrugged. "It's not like you're going to be checking anything embarrassing, so I don't mind. He's seen the majority of my broken noses. Actually, he had to drag me to a doctor to get one taken care of once."

We all started laughing a little. "It's a good thing I did to," Daniel said while still laughing.

"Hey, it wasn't that serious," I argued. The laughing had stopped but everyone was still smiling.

"Oh really?" he asked. "Your nose was smashed and it wouldn't stop bleeding."

I shook my head. "It would have stopped eventually."

Even though I couldn't see Daniel roll his eyes, I could imagine him doing it. "You wouldn't even have gone even if it was," he said and then turned in Irwin's direction. "He really doesn't enjoy going to doctors. How did you manage to get him fixed up?"

"He came to me on his own free will."

"Really?" Daniel asked surprised.

"Yeah really," I said slightly annoyed. "It was serous then. I had just gotten the hell beat out of me by a tank. I had no idea how much damage he had done."

This caused another round of laughter to go though my tent.

"So if he gets hurt again, I can trust you to bring him to me?" Irwin asked, causing them to laugh even more. I, however, was not laughing.

"Sure I'll bring him to ya, or at least bring you to him."

Irwin nodded. "That will work."

I folded my arms in front of me and my eyes narrowed into slits.

"You know, I don't think he's very happy with us," Daniel said.

"Damn right, I'm not happy!" I told them. Once again they started laughing. "You two are conspiring against me!"

This only caused them to laugh harder. I tried to continue scowling at them, but that soon failed and I started to smile slightly.

"You know it's your own fault for becoming friends with a doctor, right?" Irwin asked me, still smiling.

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway," I said, and then jerked my head in Daniel's direction. "He would have dragged me to one of you medics anyway."

"Better believe it," Daniel said. "I know full well that you're not invincible, so when you get hurt you are going to be dragged to one."

"I know I'm not invincible," I said and folded my arms in front of my chest again.

"Then why don't you go to doctors when you need to?"

I had to think about this one for a moment. The main reason why I didn't like to go to them is because I thought it would blow my cover, but I couldn't tell them that, so I settled for the next best thing.

"Well because I'm really not fond of doctors," I said and then quickly added. "No offence Irwin."

"None taken," he told me. "But why don't you like them? I think I'm a half decent doctor."

I had to think about my answer again, I knew I was digging a hole that I would soon be stuck in, but I had to answer him.

"Once again, no offence to you but I really just don't trust them."

"You trust me don't you?" he asked. It was an innocent question but one that frustrated me to no end. I couldn't say no, in this short period of time we had become good friends, but if I said yes and later on my cover was blown, how could I ever look them in the face?

I had no choice; I had to go with what was the truth. "Yes I trust you," I looked at Daniel, "I trust both of you."

It was odd for a moment. It was just completely silent, like they were taking in that information. One second it was that strange silence and the next it was broken.

"Well that's good cause when I go to take this bandage off you have to trust me," Irwin said.

I frowned slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him.

"Just hold still," he said. "Or I'll have Daniel hold you down."

"Hey that isn't funny!" I exclaimed.

He chuckled a little and put his hands on my shoulders. "Just hold still," he said soothingly, as he began to take the bandage off my nose. After it was off he smiled and said, "For a person who is used to having broken noses, you are sure easy to scare."

When he said that, I felt very foolish. He was able to toy with me so easily, both of them were.

"Okay, it looks alright, a little crooked but alright."

I frowned at him and this caused him to say, "Hey, I'm just telling the truth. Broken noses never heal back to the way they use to be, there will always be something that isn't perfect, and if you've had as many as you've said it's not going to come close.

"Actually, it looks like its set better than it was the last time," Daniel said. "You did a good job…eh what is your name?"

Irwin stuck his hand out which Daniel took. "Irwin Wade," he told him.

"Daniel Jackson, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you to."

I could see that both of them were smiling, and I smiled to. The two friends I had in this place didn't hate each other. That was always a good thing.

* * *

_A/N: Okay so I'll admit that I'm not that happy with this chapter. It could have been a lot better but I wasn't sure how to have Jackson and Wade meet one another, so I got this. I hope you liked it and there should be another chapter up soon. That also means there should be one for all my other stories as well. BTW I need to know if any of the characters were too oc or not. If they were, please send me a message or review. I'm really having a rough time trying to make sure they are in character._


	12. Squints

_A/N: Okay, I am sorry for my long delay. The ever infamous writer's block got me again. It also seems that every time I have free time I can't figure out what to write, but as soon as I have stuff to do I can write again. It's getting annoying actually. So here is the newest chapter. I hope you all like it!_

* * *

**Present**

"Did they become friends?" Eleanor asks me.

I nod and smile. "Yeah, they hit it off really well. We became close in a short period of time."

"Can you tell me something you remember about them when you were all 'together'?"

A smile graces my face as those memories come back to me.

"Yes, there were several times. Granted, it was a little difficult because they were in a different company than I was in but we managed."

* * *

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

"What do you mean you can't play?" Daniel asked.

Both he and Irwin looked at me unbelievingly. It was almost like the reaction I would expect if I had just spoken in a different language and in a way I was.

I sighed and repeated myself, "I can't play." I paused and then sighed again, this situation was almost embarrassing, or it would have been if I was really a guy. "I don't know how," I finally told them.

They were silent for a few seconds as they absorbed this information.

Finally Daniel blurted out, "What do you mean you don't know how?"

"I don't know how," I simply said, again, and then shrugged. "No one has ever showed me."

Once again there was silence. This situation was slowly starting to get annoying for me. I couldn't help it if, as a girl, no one had thought it was appropriate to show me.

"Do you know how to play any card games?" Irwin asked, trying to find another way around this.

I sighed and said, "Of course, I do!"

"What ones?" he asked again.

"Euchre, Rummy, Black Jack," I listed off.

"You know how to play those but you don't know how to play Poker?" Daniel stated, unbelievingly.

"I told you, no one has ever showed me." I said, exasperated. Then I looked at him and mentally smirked. "Besides I wouldn't think a Bible thumper would play poker. I mean wouldn't your mother skin you alive if she knew you gambled?"

Since I was squinting I could see Daniel smile slightly. I was teasing him and he knew it.

"You know he does have a point?" Irwin said, playing along. "I would have thought she wouldn't let you play either."

"I'll have ya' know she plays herself," Daniel stated proudly. "She don't see nothing' wrong with playin' it if you are just playing it. However, you are right, she don't agree with getting money from it. I wasn't planning on betting or anything like that."

I leaned back slightly and smirked. "You know Irwin, I bet the reason why he doesn't gamble isn't cause his momma will have a fit. I bet its cause she keeps beating him at it and he's afraid he'd lose all his money."

Daniel looked surprised and was about to say something but Irwin beat him to it. "Yeah, you're probably right Antony. He probably doesn't even know how to play very well."

Daniel folded his arms and grinned at us. I knew that meant this wasn't over. "Hey maybe I can't play very well, but at least I know how to play unlike Squints over there."

"Squints?" I asked.

"Yeah, Squints," Daniel said, still smiling. "I mean I think it's fitting. Even if you could play, you still wouldn't do any good cause you couldn't see the cards."

It was my turn to be surprised. I managed to sputter out, "I can see completely fine with my glasses, probably even better than you!"

"He does have a point though," Irwin said. "Without your glasses, your face is always scrunched up and I know you can't see more than three feet from you."

I tried to glare at Irwin but I couldn't manage to pull it off. Instead I childishly shoved him and said, "Traitor."

He laughed and I could see him hold up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I never claimed to be on any sides," he told me.

"Course that's cause he doesn't have to. We all know he's on mine," Daniel said, grinning.

"Leave me out of this!" Irwin told him. "I'm not on any sides!"

I was smiling as I said, "Ever the pacifist, huh?"

Irwin smiled as well and nodded.

Daniel moved closer to Irwin, and I could see he was smirking. Instantly, I knew he was up to something. He put his arm around Irwin's shoulders and said, "That's what I like about this one, Squints," he said. I glared at him, but I didn't say anything; Daniel wasn't finished. "Unlike you, he's innocent and sweet."

I practically choked while I tried to keep from laughing. "Innocent and sweet?" I managed to repeat.

"Mhm, this one couldn't hurt a fly."

Irwin was clearly uncomfortable. He fidgeted slightly and looked at me for help.

I smiled at Irwin sadly. There wasn't a whole lot I could do; he was going to have to find his way out of this one. However, I don't think any of us, even Irwin, was expecting him to do what he did next.

He looked at Daniel shyly and said, "You aren't going to kiss me are you?" I almost didn't catch what he said because he was speaking so low. In fact, I wasn't even sure I heard him right, but one look at Daniel told me I had.

Instantly my eyes went wide and I coughed loudly. Daniel was also speechless and didn't do anything but look at his friend in surprise. That moment was all it took for Irwin to free himself.

"Good, now since you aren't going to do that, get your paws off of me!" he said and then shoved Daniel's arm off of him. All of his shyness that I seen earlier was gone. Irwin just shook his head and laughed.

I looked at Daniel and said, "You set yourself up for that one."

He looked at me, still in disbelief. "Maybe, but it wasn't somethin' I was expecting," he said. "I mean he's usually so quiet and doesn't fight back. Who woulda known that he'd have things up his sleeves to?" Then he looked back at Irwin and I could see his eyes narrow in suspicion. "Who are you, and what have you done with Irwin."

I didn't try to keep myself from laughing, but Irwin was. Finally he gave up and stood up. "Oh, grow up will you?" he said.

"Now that's what I'm used to!" Daniel said, as he also stood.

"He's right you know? Sometimes you are just like a big kid," I told Daniel.

"Hey, you both like me that way," he said, "and besides, you all know I can be serous to."

I shrugged and stood. "Yeah, but sometimes it takes a miracle. Now let's see how serous you can be while I go and see if my glasses are in."

"Oh he will be somewhat serous then," I heard Irwin say as I walked out of my tent. "I mean he has to be with all that brass around."

"He sure didn't worry about it at basic," I said. "All he ever did was get us into trouble."

I looked at Daniel, who was now walking besides me, just in time to see him shake his head. "You know, Squints, if I remember right on some of those times you enjoyed the end result. Remember James?"

"Yeah I remember James, but most of the time it wasn't worth it," I frowned slightly. "Will you quit calling me Squints? It's getting on my nerves."

"It suits you though," Daniel told me, "and at least I know that when I call out you are gonna be the only one lookin' my way. I mean there are plenty of Antony's and McNeal's out there, but only a few Squints."

"Also you are always calling me doc and stuff," Irwin added. "I don't see why you can't be called something either."

I glared at Irwin and was once again thinking that he was being a traitor. "It's different. You are a doctor by profession, it's your title. I don't make a living from being a blind person. In fact, I make a living because of how good I can see with my glasses."

"That makes it all the better," Daniel said. "I mean it's like that thing you've told me about. Oh what's the word? When something seems like something at first but ends up being completely the opposite?"

"Irony?" I asked, unsure where this was going.

"Yeah, that. When you hear Squints you think that someone really can't see, but with you, you are a dead shot. See where I'm goin' with this?"

I was frowning; I could get where he was going with it and how it did make some weird since. However, that didn't mean I had to like it. "I get it," I told him reluctantly.

"Good because now from this point onward you are Squints," he said smiling.

I didn't argue with him because there was no point in it. Daniel always did what he wanted to do and I wasn't going to be able to change that now. So instead of disputing with him, I just sighed and continued walking to the supply tent. I had become familiar with it by now, so I easily made it to the person who was supposed to be giving me my glasses. I expected to hear him say that they weren't done yet because that was what I had heard so far. However, I was surprised.

"I had a feelin' you'd stop by, it's a good thin' that you did to. Your glasses finally came in," the sergeant told me. I could see him place a small bundle on his desk and I quickly grabbed it.

"About bloody time, I was starting to think they wouldn't get here," I said, as a placed them on my face. I smiled as I could finally see again. It was almost like how I felt the first time I had ever put a pair on.

"Yeah well it's a good thin' they got in when they did," the sergeant said.

"Why's that?" Irwin asked him.

The sergeant leaned forward a little and motioned for us to come in closer. When we did, he started to speak. "Now I ain't supposed to be sayin' this," he said in a hushed voice, "but I know for a fact that there is gonna be an announcement today. The invasion is goin' to be in a few days and they are gonna start getting everyone loaded up."

We all looked at each other in surprise. All of us had heard false reports of the invasion starting soon, but we had never heard it from this sergeant. He was well known to be able to get information and it was almost always reliable. If he said the invasion would be soon, there was a big chance it would be.

* * *

_A/N: Yes, as you can all see this was a filler chapter, but I thought there needed to be more development between Irwin and Daniel. Also if you guys are wondering about them being a little out of character, don't worry. I did that because I want to show the difference there is between now and after Omaha. I'd imagine that a lot kids (and yes they were practically all kids considering most weren't older than 19 went through a major change after their first major battle. Please let me know what you thought about it. Your opinions have a big effect on how this story goes!_


	13. It Can Happen to Me

_A/N: I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter up. It's been over two years, but they have been two very busy years for me. College has been getting in the way as well as other aspects of life. I'm on summer break now, and I hope to write more on this story during it._

* * *

**Present**

"You were actually in the war," Elenor says. It wasn't a question, but I answer it anyway.

"I was," I tell her. "We were loaded into ships that night, but we didn't go anywhere at first because the water was too rough. We would have never been able to make it to Normandy. We had to spend the night on the ship. Luckily my company was on the same ship as Wade's and Daniel's."

* * *

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

I tried to keep my stomach calm as the ship rocked up and down in the bay. It was impossible though, the next time the boat went up I gaged. I would have lost my lunch if I hadn't already lost it earlier.

"You okay Antony?" Daniel asked.

I could barely shake my head and said, "I think I'm going to die."

"You aren't going to die," Irwin told me. "Sea sickness doesn't kill people."

I heaved again as the boat rocked and then glared at him weakly. "I know that doc, but it sure feels like it." I sighed loudly.

Irwin, ever the doctor, went over to me and rubbed my back gently. "It will be okay," He said in a soothing voice.

Surprisingly his efforts made me feel slightly better. I looked at him gratefully and said, "Thanks doc."

He smiled and said, "Don't mention it."

I just nodded as the boat rocked again, which caused me to heave. "God, I wish this was over already," I moaned out. "I'm not going to be able to stand when we finally get off this ship."

"You will, and besides the sea sickness should go down after a little while," Irwin said as he continued to rub my back.

Heaving again I said, "How long will be a while? We've been on here for almost a whole night."

"I don't know but it should be soon."

I signed once again. "I wish they would let us off of here. It's not like we are going anywhere. It's rather pointless to have us all here."

Daniel finally spoke up, "It's cause they don't want to waste time loading us all back in here."

He was right, and I knew it. The military didn't want to waste time, and the certainly wouldn't do it to make their men more comfortable.

"We need to get some rest," Irwin said.

I looked at him with my eyebrow raised. "You really think I'm going to get any rest like this?"

"You need to try. If you're tired you won't be able to focus right. That could make you vulnerable." His voiced dropped off and he looked away.

We hadn't talked about what could happen in fact, we had avoided it. Yes we had all be thinking about it, that much I knew. However, we hadn't broached the topic. For me, Irwin bringing it up made it real. I know I had been in a form of denial. The idea that I could be dead soon was surreal. I had never thought about dying before. Even in training I didn't really think about death, but now the possibility was very real. It was a scary thought. I loved life even if it hadn't been a bed of roses. Also it was hard to imagine what my family would think. Being a woman, I shouldn't have even been on this boat. Also if I did die they would never even know. How could they when Antony McNeal didn't even exist?

I looked at the two men who had become my best friends. Each was looking somewhere else, and I could tell they were having similar thoughts. I sighed; there was no getting around it. Jessie may know that I'm over here, but no one would inform her if something happened to me. My friends were the only ones who could do anything about it.

"Daniel, Irwin," I started to say. You could barely hear me speak but both of them managed to. They looked at me, waiting for me to say more. "If something happens to me…"

"No, don't say it," Daniel said shaking his head. "Nothing is going to happen."

"Daniel you don't know that," I tried to tell him.

He shook his head again. "You are going to be fine, we all are going to be fine. There's no point in worrying when nothing is going to happen." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince me.

"Daniel please, listen to me," I told him pleadingly. Surprisingly he went silent and it seemed he would let me say what I needed to. I took a deep breath and started where I left off. "If something happens to me please find my family and tell them. They don't know I'm here, and they won't be notified unless someone tells them."

"I don't understand. Why won't they be notified? How do they not know you're here?" Irwin asked.

I paused and looked at the floor. I wasn't sure how to continue. It wasn't like I could tell them I was a woman, though I very much wanted to. All I could tell them was as close to the truth as it could get. "I joined without their knowledge," I said, finally looking up. "I do not have any contact information down, nor next of kin. My family would have never allowed me to join otherwise, and they would have found a way to keep me from coming over here."

"You weren't drafted?" Daniel asked surprised. "Why did you join if you weren't?"

I shrugged and then said, "I wanted to serve my country. What Hitler and his Nazis are doing is awful. It's a crime against humanity and I wanted to do what I could to help stop it. That's why I enlisted and came over here. I'm just worried that if anything happens my family will never know."

"Alright I'll do my best to contact them," Daniel said after a while.

"So will I," said Irwin. "What do you want us to say?"

I looked down and sighed. "I'm not really sure. That I'm sorry would probably be a good start though, and maybe you could help them understand why I did it. That's all I can really think of."

"Alright we will need an address," Irwin said.

I nodded and grabbed a pencil and piece of paper from my bag. I quickly jotted down my address twice and then gave each one of them a piece. They took it though it was obviously reluctantly. After a few moments of silence Daniel spoke up.

"Antony can you hand me that pencil and paper."

"Okay," I said confused as I handed it to him. He quickly wrote down something and tore the paper into three pieces. Two of the smaller pieces he handed to each of us.

"My address," he said bluntly. "Talk to my parents if anything happens. Tell them how I was like over here."

"Daniel can you…" Irwin started to say before Daniel handed him what was left of the paper and the pencil. He also quickly jotted down his information and gave one to each of us. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. We all knew what they were for by this point.

A silence fell over our threesome as we looked at the pieces of paper in our hands. The boat continued to rock up and down, but oddly it didn't affect me any longer. Something had just happened between our small group. We had just admitted we could die. Most people on this boat would go into battle with the idea that 'it wouldn't happen to me but to the person next to me'. We weren't among them though. We had all acknowledged that we might die, and if we didn't one of our friends just might.

* * *

_A/N: Alright here is a new chapter for you guys. Once again I'm sorry it's taken so long. This chapter is part one of two. I plan to post the next one either later today or tomorrow. Btw I am editing my previous chapters and changing a few names and such. There's just a few things that have been bugging me. _

_However, I have an important question for all of you. I am currently trying to figure out what direction to have this story go. I need to know what you guys want. Do you want her to go with the group to find Ryan, or do you want her to go in a different direction? There is a poll open on my profile. Please vote there, or post your choice in a review. The sooner I get enough responses the sooner you will get a few more chapters!_


	14. Something They Never Expected

_A/N: Oh wow! Look two updates in a day, I'm on a roll here. I hope you guys enjoy this one. This is the second part of the last chapter._

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

It seemed like forever as we sat there just thinking. I don't think I've ever seen our group of friends this somber before. As the silence wore on between us it became unbearable. I didn't want what might be our last night together to be filled with the upcoming dread. Everyone else on the ship was making as much noise as possible, obviously not able to sleep either. We were the only group I could see dwelling on things that we could not predict or change. I looked back at my two friends. I had brought this uneasy silence on us, it was only right that I got us past it.

"Hey," I said causing them to look up at me, "those papers shouldn't be something to dread. We will need those addresses after this is all over with anyway."

"What do you mean?" Irwin asked.

I smiled at him and said, "Well I was thinking that once this is all over with we should meet up. Maybe have lunch or something."

Both of them brightened at this thought. Obviously they liked the idea and welcomed the distraction.

"Sounds good to me," Daniel said. "Where would we meet up at?"

"My place would be alright," I told them. It seemed the best option considering the circumstances. If I met them anywhere else they might not believe it was me. It would probably be hard enough to convince them at my own home, let alone somewhere else.

"Alright sounds like a plan," Irwin said. "Though after that I think we should each meet up at a different person's house each time. I wouldn't want your family hosting us all the time. Especially with the way Daniel eats."

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Daniel asked slightly outraged.

"Daniel you would eat your body's weight in food if you could," Irwin said jokingly.

Daniel glared slightly and then shook his head and laughed. "I can't help it if I have a healthy appetite," he said.

"If you had a healthy appetite you wouldn't want any of the food we are given," I told him. "This stuff isn't fit for a dog."

He just simply shrugged and said, "Well I figure if I have to eat poison I might as well not starve too, but I do wish we could have real food for once. That's one of the biggest things I miss. Hey I was just thinking, how bout we share what we miss the most?"

Irwin and I both agreed. It sounded like a wonderful idea. Besides I liked learning as much as I could about these two men who had become my best friends.

"Well mine might seem a little silly," Daniel said.

"No sillier that usual I'm sure," I said teasing him.

"Oh shush," he said, and then tried to push me over. All three of us chuckled a bit and then he spoke again. "Well honestly what I miss the most is the Saturday night dances."

"Well I can say I didn't see that coming," Irwin said, slightly shocked. I had to agree with him. While Daniel did teach me how to dance, I didn't realize how much he enjoyed it. Though I suppose it seemed to make since considering how light he was on his feet.

Daniel simply shrugged. "I love to dance," he continued. "Ever since my momma taught me how I couldn't help but enjoy it. When I got older I would go with my family to our town's dances. I think I've probably danced with every girl in my town to be honest, and most of them several times. Not because I really was interested in them in particular, but simply because I wanted someone to dance with. I think the reason why I enjoy it so much is because there's just something freeing about it. I don't really think when I dance it just comes natural to me. Honestly, the first thing I want to do when I get home is walk up to the prettiest gall in the room, lead her onto the dance floor and then sweep her off her feet if she can keep up with me."

As he finished I felt a hint of jealousy build up inside of me against whoever that girl may be. However, I didn't have long to think on it.

"So Antony, what about you? What do you miss the most?" Daniel asked.

I thought briefly for a moment, but soon I had my answer. "I miss my home in general," I said. "It is really a beautiful place. As you already know my home is in woods up on one of the mountains. My grandfather and grandma bought that land when they first settled there. We owned a lot of it, and it is amazing. At the peaks you can see trees for miles and miles. During the spring and summer they would be all green and fresh with leafs. My father would take my brother and I fishing at Lake Michigan. I remember coming home with so much fish we didn't know what to do with all of it. Often times we would simply give it to our neighbors if we had too much. However, my favorite part is in the fall. The leaves would turn all sorts of colors. They would be vivid colors of yellows and oranges, but the best ones were the reds. Some would be so dark they would almost look like rubies hanging from the trees." I paused long enough to sigh. "At the beginning of fall my father, brother, and I would go on hunting trips far up in the mountains at our cabin. We would hunt deer, bear, rabbits, squirrels. By the time we were done we always had enough to make it through the winter. We also trapped for fur. When we got back we would sell most of them that way we could buy goods from town."

I closed my eyes as I thought about the amazing place I had left behind. Yes it was primitive, but in some odd way the simplicity of it was what made it so beautiful.

"Your home is similar to mine," Daniel said. "I can understand why you miss it so much."

"Well I suppose that explains why you two are some of the best shots there is," Irwin said.

"When you survive off of what you shoot you have to be good," Daniel told him.

Irwin shook his head. "I don't think I could kill anything. I enjoy life too much. I'm not sure if I will fit in there either. I was raised in a city."

I smiled at him. "You'd be surprised how quickly you would get adjusted Irwin," I told him. "Maybe you wouldn't like hunting, but I'm sure you would enjoy the life that the mountains have. Maybe we can all just go up there and go camping."

Irwin face scrunched up like he had just been told to eat something disgusting. "I think I've had enough camping for a lifetime thanks."

Daniel chuckled and shook his head. "That's not the kind of camping Antony is talking about," he said.

"Not at all," I told him. "See in the cabin we have complete shelter, no rain will come in nor will anything else. We would just enjoy being in the fresh air. There's just much more to offer than what you realize. At night the stars come out and fill the sky. Then in the mornings you can see the sun peaking over the mountain as it slowly starts to rise. It is really impressive, just wait until you see it."

Irwin seemed to think about it and then smiled. "I suppose I wouldn't mind seeing it, just as long as you two don't mind cities. They have their own beauty to them too."

"I honestly can't wait to visit everyone's home," I said, and they all agreed with me.

"Alright after that long speech," Daniel said looking at me teasingly, "it's finally your turn Irwin. What would you say you miss the most?

Irwin spoke, "I think what I miss the most is spending time with my mom."

"Wait, Irwin are you a momma's boy?" Daniel asked teasingly. "I would have never thought that you would be."

"Shut it Daniel," Irwin said. He looked down at his hands briefly and then back at us. He had a faraway look in his eyes. For a few moments it almost seemed he wasn't looking at us, but a distant memory. "My mother and I are just close. She's all I really had since my father died. Granted she wasn't able to be home very much. She would have to work really late at the hospital. I'd try to stay up as late as I could, but often I would fall asleep before she did. There are times when I did manage to stay awake, but I'd pretend to be asleep. I'm not really sure why I did that, because I loved talking to her and just being with her. When I went away to college I'm sure she was very lonely, but she was so proud when I finished medical school. Always would tell me how proud my father would have been too."

After Irwin's voice faded away he seemed to come back to us. A few minutes later Daniel spoke up again.

"I think he would too Irwin," he said. "You're about to do something great by helping people."

Irwin shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "My father was a surgeon in World War I. While he was over there he wrote my mother a letter telling her to never let me get mixed up in any war. He said he didn't want his son dying like he had seen so many other men. He hated being feeling so helpless. No matter how many men he saved it didn't matter because there was always at least one he lost. A month after he wrote that letter a bomb fell on the building he was working in."

The silence was profound. Daniel and I weren't sure what to say after all we had heard. It was hard to imagine that one of Irwin's father's last wish was that he wouldn't be involved in a war, yet here he was. My heart went out to him and especially to his mother. All I could do was pray she didn't have to suffer another loss to another stupid war.

I looked at Irwin. He was once again looking at his hands, hands that might have to work hard and fast to save only a handful of lives in a day or two. Those very hands were shaking slightly. He was trying to keep them still. That much was obvious and so wasn't his fear. Throwing caution to the wind, I cupped his hands in mine, holding them still. At first he tensed and I thought he was going to withdraw, but he ended up relaxing. It seemed that I had done some good.

"Thank you for telling us this," I told him. He wasn't one to open up to people. For him to tell us about something this important said a lot.

"No need to thank me," he said, and then he looked at us. "You two are my friends, probably the best friends I have ever had. I trust you guys."

He paused for a moment and then looked back down at our hands. This time he did remove his from mine.

"As you guys already know, I don't really get close to anyone," he said. "I've never had anyone to really be close to. That's not saying I was terribly lonely, it's just that the only one I could talk to is my mom, and be honest there's just some things you can't say to your mother. If anything I should be thinking you two."

"No Irwin," I said to him while shaking my head. "I've never had many friends either. I was always the odd duck around my parts. I mean look at me." I said standing up to my full height, which wasn't very high at all. "A shy, short, bookworm is all I've ever been to the people who met me, except until now."

"Well I hate to break up the mushy fest but I had plenty of friends back home," Daniel said. Both Irwin and I were about to say something before Daniel held up his hands. "Now wait and let me finish!"

We both remained quite as we waited for him to say what he was going to.

"Now while I had friends back home," Daniel said. "None were quite like you two. I've grown really close to you guys over these few months we've been around each other. I would trust you with my life, and that's more than I can say for those at home. Also, I suppose I'd have to say you two are my best friends too, and right now I'm praying with all my heart that we all make it through this. I can't stand to lose either one of you."

With those final words he fell silent. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence like it was earlier. It was one of understanding and friendship. Neither one of us spoke for the rest of the night, but we didn't have to. We had already said everything there was to say. So as the night went on we each managed to fall to sleep with the knowledge that somehow we had all gained a great deal from this war. We had all gained an amazing friendship that I had hoped would last forever.

_A/N: Well I do hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it. Let me know what you think. _

_PS: Sorry if I flooded anyone's inbox. I was editing the story. It's been a long while since I first started on it, and I just realized how many mistakes I had._

_PPS: Also don't forget to vote which direction you want this story to go. Do you want her to go with the group to save Ryan, or do you want her to go some other direction? I will probably have one more chapter to post before I need to come up with a decision. The sooner I get enough votes (aka 5 or more) the sooner I will be able to continue with the story. Leave your vote in the review or post it in the poll. Thanks!_


	15. DDay 1: Arriving at the Beach

**Present**

I pause for a moment as I think about that night. It was a special moment in my life, one that I didn't think I could ever forget. That night was also the beginning of what would be the most horrific moments in my life.

I look back at my daughter. She seems to have a far off look in her eye, as if my story has brought her on that ship with my two dear friends. Finally after a few moments of silence she looks at me.

"They died didn't they?" she says. Once again, it truly was not a question.

I simply shake my head and ask, "What makes you believe that?"

"It's obvious," she says. "I've never met either one of them. If you were that close to them I surely would have met them by now."

I give a small half smile. She truly had inherited my brains. However, the story was not over. "There are many reasons why you may not have met them," I tell her. "For instance they could feel betrayed by the fact that I never told them who I really was."

She shakes her head and says, "I don't think so. You seemed to be very close to them and they were very understanding men. I find it hard to believe they couldn't forgive you for a mistake like that."

"Well I suppose you will just have to listen to the rest of the story and find out won't you," I told her.

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

As the landing craft dipped, causing sea water to spray in my face, I found myself wishing I was back on the ship. How I felt before was nothing compared to how I felt now. Every time the small, cramped boat dipped up and down I had to force my body not to heave. It was impossible because with the next wave I couldn't keep my stomach contents down. Finally after vomiting a few times my stomach had nothing left and stopped. With relief I sighed and rested my head against the metal side of the boat. It was cool and seemed to help a little more with my stomach.

I stood there like that for a few minutes with my eyes closed. I could hear that most of the men next to me were not fairing any better. The majority of us had never been on a boat. This meant that sea sickness was inevitable. However, that wasn't the only sound I could hear. While none were talking to each other, many of them were praying. Sounds of 'God please protect me and bring me home' were all too common.

This made me smile slightly as I thought of Daniel. I knew that somewhere on this same sea he was in a boat similar to mine. He would probably be busy praying to God asking for safety. Though I could also imagine he was praying for Irwin and I as well. Irwin would also be in the same craft with Daniel. I wasn't quite sure what he would be doing as he waited for us to reach the shore. I didn't know if he had a belief or not. I wasn't sure why, but the topic just never came up. With this thought in mind I came up with a picture of him at least hoping he would come home alive. He would also probably be thinking about his mother, and what would happen to her if he didn't survive this.

Instantly I began to wonder what would happen to me. My family might be notified by my friends, that is if they made it. If they were notified I knew they would be devastated. I could picture my grandmother blaming herself for my death. She would believe that if she had done something, instead of being quiet, my death could have been prevented. My father would be furious, and if he ever found out that my grandmother knew where I was he would blame her too. My brother would miss me but other than that I wasn't sure what his reaction would be. I also wondered what the army would do with my body if they found me. What would they do with me once they realized that the soldier in their uniform was actually a woman?

I was drug out of my musings by my CO. "We are almost at the beach. Once we get there remember your training, head for cover and then meet up at the rally point," he said, and then paused to look at us. "You are all good men, good luck."

A feeling of dread washed over me. Captain Steel had always lived up to his name. This man seemed completely fearless, but he was obviously afraid. If he was afraid, what did that mean for the rest of us?

Quickly I said a prayer under my breath, "Watch over me Lord. Guide me and keep me safe. Watch over my friends as well, I have a feeling we all really need you."

No sooner had I managed to say this did we hit the beach. I held my breath as I waited for the door to be lowered. As soon as it did all hell broke loose. The men in front were instantly mowed down, and I froze. As blood splashed up from these men that I had lived with I could do nothing but watch. A few seconds later I felt someone grab the back of my pack.

"Over the side!" I could hear my CO scream overtop of the shells.

Seconds later I found myself being lifted and thrown over the side of the landing craft. Instantly cold water hit my face and filled my mouth. I began to sink to the bottom of the channel like a rock. Then finally my brain went into gear, and so did the rest of my body. I started to swim as hard as I could up to the surface. Finally I reached it and managed to take a gulp of air. After I had gotten a little air in my lungs my instincts pushed me to swim towards shore. I had made it only a short distance before I heard an explosion from behind me. Turning around I saw the landing craft I had just managed to get out of only moments before. It was on fire and sinking into the water. It didn't look like anyone had managed to get out of it except me. I felt guilt wash over me like a wave, and treaded water while I watched it sink. However, I watched too long because the next think I realized was another shell going off and then everything went black.

_A/N: D-day is going to be a long part of this story, so I am dividing it into several parts. Here is the first part._

_PS: You all have several chapters coming up before I will have to decide what to do with Alice (that's the new name I chose). _

_Your choices are: _

_1.) Going with the group to save Ryan _

_2.) Have her go somewhere else_

_Please tell me which direction you want her to go by either reviewing or voting on the poll in my profile. _


	16. DDay 2: Never the Same

**Present**

I look at Eleanor for a moment. Her eyes are wide and I know she has fully been drawn into my story. She looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue. A few seconds later she grows impatient with me.

"What happened next?" she asks. "You obviously didn't die, so what happened?"

"I only know what little I heard from other people," I tell her. "I had been knocked unconscious by a nearby shell. I'm lucky I didn't drown in that ocean. I only survived because I was saved by someone else. I only found out what happened after we took the beach. I'll have to tell you what they told me."

* * *

**Sixteen Years Earlier**

**Daniel's POV**

I had managed to make it up to one of the tank barriers. Gulping air I looked around me. The sight scared me to death. I wasn't sitting in water, I was sitting in blood. The whole sea had turned red with the blood of other men just like me. Bodies and body parts were also floating in the water, filling it with more blood. I wasn't sure how I was still alive after seeing so many die around me.

Looking around I looked to see if I could recognize anyone from my own company. Scanning their terrified faces I quickly realized I didn't know any of these men. They were from a completely different company. Dread washed over me. Was I the only one that made it this far? Was Irwin lying dead in the channel or in the landing craft? He had been right behind me, but I hadn't been able to keep track of him once the doors had been open. The only thing I was focused on was getting off the craft and to shelter.

"God…" I started to pray. I didn't have a chance before I heard an explosion behind me back in the sea. My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach when I saw what had happened. A landing craft had exploded and was sinking. It was the landing craft that Antony had been on.

"Oh no," I breathed out, certain I had just lost my best friend. We had become so close, and I had depended on him as much as he depended on me. I felt a huge hole in my heart open up, and couldn't believe it was possible that he was gone. I didn't want to believe it was possible, and just kept staring at the craft.

It was like watching a train wreck. I couldn't pull my eyes away from the boat that I was sure Antony was on. He was so afraid to die, afraid that his family would never know. I hadn't wanted to accept that, but he knew it was possible. He had forced Irwin and I to realize we may not make it out of this place alive. Now he had died and I had to make sure I stayed alive to deliver the message to his family.

I continued looking at the sinking craft, thinking about him. It wasn't until someone landed beside me was I able to look away.

"You need to move," the man yelled above the gunfire. "I have to get rid of this tank barrier, so we can move the tanks in."

I nodded and finally was able to focus again. Quickly I got ready to move. As much as I didn't want to, there was no other choice other than to move towards the beach. Looking up the beach it seemed almost impossible. Between here and the reinforcements there was no place to hide. All over the place you could see men running and being shot down. I gagged when I looked at a man up the beach that was trying to put his intestines back inside of himself. My training could have never prepared me for this.

"You need to move now," the man yelled at me again.

I took a deep breath and prepared to run. "God watch over me," I said, and then began to run as fast as I could.

I didn't have time to think about what I was doing. All I knew was I had to get up to where the other men were. I ran past men that were dying everywhere. There was gunfire ringing out from all around me. I don't know how I didn't get hit, but I managed to make it up to there and dived for cover.

"Jackson here sir," I said, and then once I caught my breath I looked around me. Even though I was still terrified, I was greatly relieved. Somehow some of the men from my company had made it here too. It was a relief to see some had made it. My relief grew when I saw Irwin treating a wounded man. I quickly said a prayer of thanks. At least one of my friends had made it this far.

"Oh my God it hurts! I'm gonna die! Oh my God! Oh Jesus! Oh my God," I could hear the man screaming. He was in bad shape and in obvious pain. His arm had been torn and you could see blood flowing out of it from the muscle underneath.

"You're not going to die," Irwin said as he franticly tried to stop the bleeding. "Just don't look at it.

I didn't get to see if he managed to help the man because the next thing I heard was my CO yell, "Bangalores! Clear the shingles!"

I quickly covered my head before the bangalores exploded. Looking up I found that we had finally broken through. I was relieved that we were that much closer to having this awful nightmare over. Next I heard someone say to move and out of instinct I followed the group.

We hid behind a wall and the rest of the men waited for Miller to tell us what to do next. I kept looking around, trying to make sure nothing can shoot us from this direction. Everything seemed impossible. I couldn't get a clean shot at anything. The Germans had prepared themselves well, too well. Just as I was starting to despair I heard Miller call for a few of the men and some gunfire.

"Jackson?" I hear him call for me.

"Yes sir," I said when I went over to him. He quickly showed me a mirror. I could see the gun nest. Instantly I had a good idea what I was going to have to do.

"You see that impact crater right there?"

I looked away from the nest and to the crater he was talking about. It looked like the Germans wouldn't be able to shoot me from there. Getting there would be the only problem, but I knew that's what his plan was. "Yes sir," I say.

"That should give you complete defelè from that machine position. Get in there and give me some fire. Wait for my command. Go!"

Instantly I took off. I was running for my life for the second time today. I could hear the Germans fire at me, but for the second time I managed to make it to safety. Hurriedly I got ready to fire. I didn't have much time to think about what I was doing. All I knew was that it had to be done.

"Be not that far from me oh lord," I prayed and then fired my rifle. Instantly I could see the man fall. Somewhere deep inside of me I felt revulsion at what I had just done. I knew I had just killed a man. However, I didn't have time to dwell on it. Breaking through their defenses was resting completely on my shoulders.

"Oh my strength, haste thee to help me." I fired again, this time bringing down the whole fortification. I heard the men shoot as the Germans fall from the embankment. Getting up I could see the other men run to the fort. I quickly follow them knowing that this day wasn't over yet.

The next minutes were purely a blur. I remember Sarge and Riben throwing grenades into the fort and then the Captain having it torched. I felt completely numb as I heard screaming coming from inside the fort. I had no sympathy for them at all, and a part of me was even pleased that they had suffered. These men resulted in the deaths of so many decent men today. They had a hand in killing Antony.

When I thought about him, and the fact that he was dead I felt a rage fill me. In a haze I hurriedly rushed to help clear out the trenches. I didn't care if the Germans surrender or not. I just would shoot if I saw one. I don't think I was really thinking by that point. All I knew was these men killed people I had cared about, and would kill me too if they were given a chance. By this point all guilt about killing these men was gone.

In the last trench there were several Germans inside of it. Instantly I fired my pistol repeatedly into the trench. Even though I knew the men inside of it were dead I continued to fire. I and the men around me only stopped when we heard someone telling us to cease fire. When I started to put my pistol away my daze lifted. As I stood there looking down at the dead men a realization came over me. I was no longer the same person I was the night before. While trying to take this beach I had changed, and I didn't think I would ever be the same again.

* * *

_A/N: Alright this one is a tad short, but remember all the D-Day ones are technically combined. I thought this would add a new twist to things. Also I think it will really help show how each of them changed into the persons we see in the movies. I will be updating with the next part soon. Please tell me what you think of my chapters so far. I would like any reviews you can give me, thanks!_

_PS: You guys now have two more chapters left to vote on where you want Antony to go._

_The options are:_

_1.) With the group to save Ryan_

_2.) Somewhere else_

_PSS: Sorry that I had to take this down. I found out that I had changed tenses half way through the story, and also I wasn't happy with what I had before. It needed some major tuning up. I hope you like it._


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